Joe Root and Jordan Cox shared an unbroken century stand as England overcame a dramatic start to their chase to complete a 3-0 Test series whitewash over Pakistan with an eight-wicket victory at Edgbaston.

Chasing just 130 for victory, England lost Ben Duckett to Mohammad Abbas with the very first ball of the innings and then saw opener Emilio Gay trapped leg-before-wicket later in the same over. At 2/2, Pakistan briefly sensed the possibility of an extraordinary comeback, having been kept alive by debutant Razaullah's thrilling counter-attack with the bat on the third evening.

No-ball reprieve and dropped catch swing the chase

Root survived a major scare when Mohammad Ali's delivery bowled him for 23, only for the umpire to signal a no-ball — Ali's 17th of the series. Root slammed the very next delivery for a boundary, and Pakistan's pain deepened when Abbas induced an edge off Root's bat that neither first slip nor second slip attempted to grasp.

Once the storm passed, England cruised to victory. Root reached fifty with another boundary, breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record for the most half-centuries in Test cricket, while Cox registered a fifty of his own as the target was knocked off at the stroke of lunch with eight wickets in hand.

"Fair play to Pakistan, they threw some punches last night. They made it very difficult for us and in some ways it's a good thing to go through that," said Root. "Test cricket is not always going to go your own way but to see us actually be quite clinical with the bat off the back of that was good too. So in many ways we're better for it. Of course there's things we will want to improve on but we came into this series with a lot of question marks and a lot of noise around the team and we've walked away 3-0 winners so in that respect I'm quite pleased."

First-innings dominance set up the win

The foundations for the victory were laid over the first two days. England piled up 453 after starting day two with a 23-run lead, adding another 297 runs across the first two sessions. Harry Brook top-scored with 75, while Jamie Smith (69), Dan Lawrence (65) and Emilio Gay (60) all passed fifty, with Ollie Robinson adding a rapid 50 off 47 balls. Five England batters passed fifty but none converted their starts into a century. Pakistan debutant Razaullah was the most successful bowler with 4/148, while Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Imran took two wickets each.

Robinson then exposed Pakistan's fragile top order in the second innings, removing Saim Ayub for a first-ball duck before dismissing Abdullah Shafique in the same opening over to leave Pakistan 0/2. Captain Shan Masood (21 not out) and Azan Awais (29 not out) briefly resisted with an unbeaten 52-run stand before rain and bad light brought an early end to play on day two, with Pakistan 52/2.

Pakistan's first innings had earlier collapsed for just 133, with Josh Tongue taking 4/42 as all of Pakistan's top five were dismissed for single-digit scores.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam admitted his side's first-innings batting proved decisive. "We had a couple of good moments. I think we have bowled well but I think the first innings cost us. Too many soft dismissals," he said. "I think this was a good opportunity for youngsters to play against quality bowlers, quality opponent, so they learned a lot and I think this is helpful for the future."

Robinson leads the way

Ollie Robinson finished the series with 21 wickets and was named England's player of the series, with Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson also playing important roles in helpful conditions. "I'm a realist, I know it's not always going to be like this," said Robinson. "We know there's going to be tougher times ahead. We have some tough opposition coming up and we're looking forward to the challenge."

The whitewash was England's second 3-0 Test series clean sweep over Pakistan after their 2022/23 success and their first home clean sweep against the visitors. Cox, who kept wicket in the second innings because of Jamie Smith's finger injury, strengthened his case for the winter tour with his unbeaten 59, while Jacob Bethell is expected to return after recovering from knee surgery.

Brief scores: Pakistan 133 (Saud Shakeel 43; Josh Tongue 4-42) & 449 (Shan Masood 95; Gus Atkinson 3-109) lost to England 453 (Harry Brook 75; Razaullah 4-148) & 130/2 (Joe Root 62*, Jordan Cox 59*; Mohammad Abbas 2-27) by 8 wickets.