Ollie Robinson gave England the start they wanted in the first Test of Joe Root‘s second spell as Test captain, dismissing Pakistan opener Awais Ali for a golden duck with the very first ball of the series at Headingley.Robinson trapped Awais lbw with the first delivery of the match. Awais reviewed the decision, hoping the ball had pitched outside the line, but the review returned three reds and the decision stayed.The fast bowler struck again in his opening spell, dismissing Pakistan captain Shan Masood in his third over to leave the visitors at 6-2.After 10 overs, rain forced the players off the field with Pakistan on 19-2.Robinson has now taken a wicket in the first over of a Test innings in back-to-back matches. During his return to England’s Test side against New Zealand at Lord’s earlier this summer, after more than two years out of the team, he picked up three wickets in his opening over. He finished that match with five wickets in New Zealand’s first innings and two more in the second as England won by 115 runs.The wicket of Awais also put Robinson into the record books. It was the first time an England bowler had taken a wicket with the first ball of the opening Test of a series played in England.He also became only the second England bowler to dismiss a batter with the first ball of any Test series. James Anderson achieved the feat when he removed Dean Elgar with the first delivery of England’s series against South Africa in Centurion in 2019.In Test cricket history, a wicket has fallen from the first ball of a series 12 times. West Indies fast bowler Pedro Collins is the only player to do it twice, dismissing Bangladesh opener Hannan Sarkar on both occasions, as per a report by Wisden.
Full list: Wickets to fall on the first ball of a Test series
Bowler |
Batter |
Venue |
Year |
| Test Badcock (NZ) | Herbert Sutcliffe (ENG) | Christchurch | 1933 |
| Ernie McCormick (AUS) | Stan Worthington (ENG) | The Gabba | 1936 |
| Kapil Dev (IND) | Jimmy Cook (SA) | Durban | 1992 |
| Pedro Collins (WI) | Hannan Sarkar (BAN) | Dhaka | 2002 |
| Pedro Collins (WI) | Hannan Sarkar (BAN) | Gros Islet | 2004 |
| Mashrafe Mortaza (BAN) | Wasim Jaffer (IND) | Chattogram | 2007 |
| Mohammad Amir (PAK) | Tim McIntosh (NZ) | Dunedin | 2009 |
| Suranga Lakmal (SL) | KL Rahul (IND) | Eden Gardens | 2017 |
| James Anderson (ENG) | Dean Elgar (SA) | Centurion | 2019 |
| Blessing Muzarabani (ZIM) | Abdul Malik (AFG) | Abu Dhabi | 2021 |
| Mitchell Starc (AUS) | Rory Burns (ENG) | The Gabba | 2021 |
| Ollie Robinson (ENG) | Azan Awais (PAK) | Headingley | 2026 |
England’s first Test under reappointed captain Joe Root continued to go their way on the opening day.Pakistan collapsed from 117-3 to 171 all out, with Robinson and Josh Tongue taking five wickets each.By stumps, England had reached 112-2, trailing Pakistan by 59 runs.
