Marcus Trescothick admitted England were hit by a “perfect storm” after Pakistan debutant Razaullah’s astonishing blitz to take the third Test at Edgbaston into a fourth day.
Pakistan showed some overdue resistance thanks to Shan Masood’s 95, Babar Azam’s knock of 76 and Azan Awais’ 59, but they were still two runs adrift of making England bat again when they lost their eighth wicket.
But Razaullah, one of a group of players called up after the banishment of seven players when Pakistan slipped 2-0 down in the three-match series, produced a counter-attack for the ages from number nine.
He cleared the boundary nine times, equalling Ben Stokes’ record for the most sixes in a Test innings in this country, in his 81 off 63 balls to lift Pakistan to 449 all out, leaving England 130 to win.
It was a reality check for England’s seamers, with Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue and Jofra Archer dominating for two and a half Tests, but Trescothick believes an element of luck went against them.
“You had a combination of the pitch was good (to bat) and a young man who was hitting it well, so it was the perfect storm going into that,” England interim head coach said.
“You’d always like to think that you could do it better and you analyse it afterwards, was there an area that we missed or was there a tactic that we missed to get it right?
“When we did bowl on the stumps, those were the balls that he was getting hold of more than anything else. It was just above the stumps that we were hoping to try and get the edge, as much as possible.”
England have relied on a four-strong pace attack – Gus Atkinson took three wickets on Friday after taking just one all series before then – and relied on Dan Lawrence’s part-time spin.
A front-line spinner may have helped to combat Pakistan’s defiance with Lawrence bowling just 4.4 overs in the innings and taking two wickets, but Trescothick stood firm on the bowlers England selected.
“Spin has hardly had an impact at all in the previous couple of games,” Trescothick added.
“If you’ve got someone that you throw the ball to as a spinner and you have that quality of spin in your team, fair enough. Our balance doesn’t suit that at the moment. We’re going with what we have.”
Razaullah operated at 90mph when England batted and dismissed captain Joe Root in his first over in Test cricket, showing a wholehearted effort throughout 23 overs to finish with four for 148.
“He’s been very impressive,” Trescothick said. “Not just with his batting. You want to see characters like this and young players coming through into the game with a bit of something about them.
“He’s got pace, he’s at it on the field and then he slogs it like that. That’s pretty good to see. Fair play because some of the sixes he hit were pretty impressive to watch.”
England will be overwhelming favourites to complete a series clean sweep but their target is precisely what Australia required during the famous Headingley Ashes Test in 1981, losing by 18 runs.
Trescothick added: “I’m backing my team to go out on a good pitch and play well and secure the victory, so, fingers crossed, that happens for us.”
