England bowler Ollie Robinson took a wicket with the first ball of the match as his double strike left Pakistan reeling before rain stopped play in the first test at Headingley on Wednesday.
Robinson celebrated his recall in style in England’s first test since the exits of Ben Stokes, their former captain, and Brendon McCullum, sacked as red-ball coach.
By the time rain halted play after 50 minutes, Pakistan – without injured captain Babar Azam for the start of the three-test series – were stumbling at 23-2.
Imam-ul-Haq was five not out and Abdullah Shafique unbeaten on 12.
Robinson had figures of 2-12 in five overs, with the umpires later announcing lunch would be taken 30 minutes early at 12:30 pm (11:30am GMT).
Joe Root, in his second stint as fulltime England captain, explained his decision to field first after winning the toss by saying, "We feel there’s some overheads to work with, and a bit of top moisture that our lads can exploit."
But not even Root, allrounder Stokes’s predecessor as skipper, could have forecast what happened next.
Robinson, recalled in place of offspinner Shoaib Bashir, was on target with the first ball of the match, trapping left-hander Azan Awais lbw.
Awais reviewed but umpire Chris Gaffaney’s decision was upheld, with replays indicating the ball would have hit the top of middle stump.
It was a fine way for the 32-year-old Robinson to take his 500th first-class wicket at an impressively low average of 21.
Shan Masood had managed just five when he too fell lbw to Robinson, bowling over the wicket at the left-hander and moving the ball back into the batsman’s pads.
Shafique drove Gus Atkinson for four before he survived a confident caught behind appeal, with umpire Allahuddien Paleker correctly ruling the rising ball had flicked the batsman’s leg instead.
ENGLAND: Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jordan Cox, Joe Root (capt), Harry Brook, Dan Lawrence, Jamie Smith (wkt), Gus Atkinson, Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue.
PAKISTAN: Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Abdullah Shafiq, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wkt), Salman Ali Agha (capt), Ali Usman, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Abbas.