Tongue's six-ball burst puts England on brink of innings victory over Pakistan at Headingley

Josh Tongue took three wickets in six balls to reduce Pakistan to 76 for 6 and leave England closing in on an innings victory in the first Test at Headingley on 21 August 2026 BBC Sport.

Pakistan had been 68 for 3 in their second innings — already trailing heavily after being dismissed for just 171 on day one — when Tongue struck. Three wickets in the space of six deliveries turned a difficult position into a near-hopeless one. Pakistan slumped to 76 for 6, England's advantage growing with every dismissal.

The damage was set up by a commanding second-innings batting display. Harry Brook top-scored with 91, while Jordan Cox (73), Joe Root (66) and Dan Lawrence (51) all passed fifty. England reached 366 for 8, a lead of 195, before declaring and inviting Pakistan to bat again ESPNcricinfo.

Pakistan's fast bowler Ali Usman offered some resistance with the ball, taking 5 for 92 — the figures a bowler's individual wicket tally and runs conceded. But the total England piled up meant Pakistan needed to bat deep into a fourth innings just to make England bat again.

Tongue had already made his mark earlier in the match. He and Ollie Robinson each took five wickets in Pakistan's first innings — a feat never before achieved by two England bowlers in the same Test innings. The pair shared the match ball as a memento of the occasion Rediff.

Pakistan had their moments across the match. Khurram Shahzad dismissed Cox and Root within five balls during England's second innings, briefly checking the scoring rate when England sat on 209 for 4 ESPNcricinfo. But Brook and Lawrence pressed on, and the lead swelled beyond Pakistan's reach.

This is the opening match of a three-Test series between England and Pakistan, running across August and September 2026. England named a 16-player squad for the first two Tests ECB.

What makes this stand out is the sheer concentration of wickets. Six balls, three victims — a hat-trick is three wickets in three consecutive deliveries, and Tongue's burst fell just short of that. But spread across six balls, it was no less devastating. Pakistan went from a position where rebuilding was still possible to one where only a collapse could follow.

For England, the story of this Test is a seam attack operating in tandem. Robinson and Tongue shared the new ball, shared the wickets, and shared the match ball. Now Tongue has followed his first-innings haul with a second-innings burst that has England on the verge of wrapping up the match with an innings to spare — the most one-sided result in Test cricket, where the winning team does not even need to bat a second time.