Razaullah Turns Dead Rubber into Thrilling Contest at Edgbaston

England will wake up on Saturday needing 130 runs, but the number that really rang around Edgbaston on Friday evening was nine.

Nine sixes. From a 21-year-old debutant batting at number nine, who walked out with his side still behind, a series drifting to a tame conclusion, and turned it into a backyard brawl under heavy skies.

His name is Razaullah, and for an hour he turned England’s bowlers into targets.

Razaullah rips up the script

Pakistan had clawed their way to 318-8, still two runs adrift, with time left in the day and the match apparently sliding towards the inevitable. Then the mood changed.

Razaullah, who had already caught the eye with the ball in England’s first innings, strode out and started swinging like a man who had no interest in damage limitation. His 81 from 63 balls was not a cameo, it was a detonation.

Nine times he cleared the rope, equalling Ben Stokes’ record for the most sixes in a Test innings in England. He also matched Tim Southee’s mark for the most sixes by a Test debutant anywhere. This was not slogging in garbage time. This was a live Test match being wrenched onto a different track.

He found an unlikely accomplice in Muhammad Abbas. The pair added 121 for the eighth wicket, Abbas chipping in 42 that included two sixes of his own and a handful of audacious strokes, including reverse-sweeps off Dan Lawrence. At one stage, it felt as if Pakistan’s tail had decided to audition for a T20 league in the middle of a Test.

Gus Atkinson was launched into the Edgbaston building site, three times in the same over. Jofra Archer saw the ball sail back over his head twice in succession. England’s lengths disappeared, their plans disintegrated, and the Hollies Stand roared at every clean strike.

The end, when it came, was almost chaotic. Abbas poked Josh Tongue to point as the light dimmed. Razaullah survived an lbw on review, then hammered Lawrence for that record-equalling ninth six. One last charge down the pitch, one last risk, and he was stumped. Pakistan 449 all out. A new cult hero walking off to a rapturous ovation.

Only then did England’s chase begin, with 130 needed for a 3-0 sweep.

A Test finally breaks out

For two days this had looked like a series limping to its conclusion. Pakistan were bowled out for 133 on day one, then slumped to 0-2 in their second innings. But bad weather on Thursday bought them time; Friday, they bought themselves respect.

From 55-2 overnight, 268 behind, they did not fold. They fought.

Shan Masood and Azan Awais, the latter just 21, extended their third-wicket stand to 125. Awais, promising and neat through the off side, reached 59 before feathering Lawrence’s off-spin down the leg side.

Masood, composed and controlled in what is likely his final Test in the country where he went to school, moved steadily towards a hundred. He fell on 95, cut short by a stunning one-handed catch from Lawrence at gully off Atkinson. It was a cruel end to a fine innings and, at that moment, felt like the decisive blow.

Babar Azam, all timing and class for his 76, joined Masood for a stand of 89. When England went to the short ball either side of tea, the dynamic shifted. Babar, unsettled by the barrage, miscued a Tongue bouncer and departed. His wicket sparked a slide of four for 40 and seemed to confirm a three-day finish.

Then came Razaullah, and all those assumptions went up with the ball into the Birmingham night.

Pakistan finally show their teeth

This was the first time in the series Pakistan had passed 200. The first time they had batted more than 51 overs. For a side that has looked lost and listless, this was a startling change of tone.

They were patient up top, disciplined in defence, and willing to wear England down. They refused to be humiliated in Birmingham. Masood’s authority, Awais’ promise, Babar’s class – it all laid the platform for what followed.

Razaullah’s innings began as freewheeling fun and morphed into something far more serious. England’s bowlers were not just being hit; they were being rattled. Fields were pushed back, then scattered. Plans were ripped up mid-over. The crowd sensed it, Pakistan sensed it, and England suddenly looked short of answers.

Even Abbas joined the carnival, clearing Ollie Robinson over cow corner and sweeping Lawrence with a freedom that mocked the situation. For the first time all tour, Pakistan’s lower order looked like it believed it belonged.

They have restored some pride. They have also, perhaps unintentionally, given themselves something to defend.

England’s new regime meets its first real stress test

Until Razaullah and Abbas came together, England’s attack had controlled the series. Tongue’s 4-42 in the first innings, the relentless pressure from Robinson, the sharp catching – it had all looked like a well-oiled machine under Joe Root’s second spell in charge.

On Friday, that machine spluttered.

For most of the day, England were solid. When the ball moved, they held their length. When it went flat, they switched to the short ball and were rewarded: Babar’s dismissal came from a well-executed plan. Fielders clung on to tough chances. The basics were sound.

Then the eighth-wicket stand blew a hole in their composure. The fields went out for the bouncer and stayed out, even as Razaullah kept clearing the men on the rope. When they tried to pitch it up, they missed their lines or found stubborn defence.

Robinson, in the form of his life, somehow watched the second new ball handed to Lawrence’s part-time spin. Archer’s frustration at the punishment he received was clear. Root briefly left the field. By the end, Atkinson was banging in bouncers with eight men on the fence, a sight that screamed desperation more than strategy.

The late wickets brought relief, not triumph. England walked off chastened, still strong favourites, but with uncomfortable questions about their decision-making under pressure.

A chase with a twist

On paper, 130 should not scare a batting line-up that piled up 453, with Harry Brook (75), Jamie Smith (69), Dan Lawrence (65), Emilio Gay (60) and Robinson (50) all contributing. The pitch has runs in it. The series is already theirs. The script says England stroll to a 3-0 clean sweep.

But Test cricket does not always read the script.

Pakistan, written off repeatedly over the past week, now have a total, a fired-up debutant, and a dressing room that has finally tasted a day where things went their way. The Hollies Stand will be full, the ball will be new, and 130 can look a lot bigger if early wickets fall.

After two flat days, a real contest has finally broken out at Edgbaston. Now the question is simple: can England finish the job, or has Razaullah lit a spark that turns a dead rubber into something far more awkward?