There are walkovers, and then there is this series between England and Pakistan. If the second day of the second Test began with the whiff of a contest in the air, it ended with England in such control that thoughts were already drifting towards a whitewash at Edgbaston.

Not even a probing new-ball spell from Khurram Shahzad, who cheaply removed Ben Duckett and Jordan Cox, and yet another lbw dismissal for Joe Root, could remove the gloss from a day on which England’s four-pronged pace attack took turns to torment the tourists.

English cricket is frequently too obsessed with the Ashes for its own good, and the Australians do not arrive until next summer. But as Jofra Archer and Ollie Robinson posed chalk-and-cheese problems with the new ball, and Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson provided back-up pace and venom, it was hard not to imagine that England have settled on their likeliest route to regaining the urn.

In thirty-seven overs and two balls of controlled menace, the quartet blew away Pakistan for 110, a further decline after totals of 171 and 135 in the first Test. Opener Imam-ul-Haq failed to emerge at all because of a calf injury, but that was the only mitigation: this was one-way traffic, minus the speed bumps and red lights.

Had opener Azan Awais not been dropped low down at second slip by Harry Brook off Atkinson when he had eight, the carnage would have been uncontained. Instead, Pakistan had Awais to thank for dragging them into three figures with an innings of 46 that was as gutsy as it was fortuitous: on 14 occasions, he played and missed at Archer, often from a different postcode.

And poor though Pakistan were, England’s attack ticked every box. Archer reached 94.5mph during the quickest five-over opening spell of his Test career, averaging 90.7mph and including the wicket of Shan Masood, who was caught behind for a single poking at a full-length delivery with tellingly little foot movement.

England ended day two of the second Test in a superb position after blowing Pakistan away

Ollie Robinson was superb yet again and took 4-11 as Pakistan were all out for just 110

Jofra Archer bowled with pace as he reached 94.5mph during his rapid opening spell 

The relentless Robinson returned figures of 13–6–11–4 and now has 19 Test wickets in his comeback summer at under nine apiece. His 12 in this series have cost just seven, the numbers of a schoolboy bully. Only spinner Phil Edmonds, 48 years ago against Pakistan, has taken a cheaper Test four-for at Lord’s.

Atkinson is once more hitting the speeds he managed during his stellar first summer as a Test cricketer in 2024, while Tongue served up an angle more awkward than any, luring the right-handers in outside off stump, then nipping it away.

His dismissal of Babar Azam shortly after lunch was a classic of the genre. The previous ball had kissed the outside edge, only to drop short of Jamie Smith. Now he angled one in, got it to straighten, then watched it fly off a thick edge to Cox at third slip. After two flowing cover-drives, Pakistan’s captain and the prince of their batting line-up was on his way for eight.

Tongue’s continued threat makes his absence from the first two Tests in Australia all the more galling – another black mark for the Bazball management, as if there weren’t enough already.

It all added up to the most compelling collective performance by England’s quicks since the first day in Perth, back on November 21. That, of course, proved misleading, and three of the five fast bowlers that day – Mark Wood, Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse – are now missing for one reason or another.

But if England can keep this quartet fit, the ongoing anguish about the lack of a world-class spinner need not set the pulse racing.

For the Sussex duo of Archer and Robinson, in particular, it has been a return to savour. Four and a half injury-hit years without a Test match raised questions over the management’s faith in Archer, to say nothing of the money they continued to pay him.

Yet since he returned to the side against India last summer, only Tongue has taken more than Archer’s 35 wickets at 24, and he has approached the speeds that lit up the 2019 Ashes and his famous duel with Steve Smith at Lord’s. More than that, he has repaid the faith.

Robinson, meanwhile, has kept at arm’s length criticism of his pace – he has averaged less than 78mph in this game – by giving batsmen nothing to hit. His economy-rate this summer of 2.55 is the work of a tall man landing the ball on the same spot as if in his sleep.

It was another difficult day for Pakistan as England finished 81-3 and 261 runs ahead

A downside for England was Joe Root being out lbw for the ninth time in his last 12 Test innings

Of his 19 wickets in two and a bit Tests against New Zealand and Pakistan, eight have been lbw, four bowled and four caught in the slips. The day’s biggest surprise came when he bowled a bouncer at Awais, who helped it into the hands of Emilio Gay at deep backward square.

Armed with a lead of 180, thanks in part to a last-wicket stand of 47 at the start of the day between Atkinson and Tongue, England’s second innings was under little pressure, which may explain why Duckett drove Shahzad carelessly to mid-off for a single. Shahzad then nipped one back to pin Cox leg-before for 11, and it was 60 for three when Root fell lbw for the ninth time in 12 Test innings, unable to keep out a ball from Mohammad Ali that came back up the slope.

Wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan wasn’t standing up this time, but that was of no consolation to the England captain, who took a review with him as he trudged off for 24. When bad light ended play just before 6.45, with Gay on a watchful 30, England were 261 ahead, and doubtless already out of sight.