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England Pacers Robinson And Tongue Cut Match Ball In Half After Twin Fifers vs Pakistan

Sanjeev Kumar | August 20, 2026 6:22 PM CST

England's fast bowlers Josh Tongue and Ollie Robinson each claimed five wickets in the first innings of the ongoing first Test on Wednesday, August 19, helping to dismiss Pakistan for just 171 runs.

On the first day of the match at Headingley in Leeds, Tongue dismissed five Pakistani batters for just 46 runs in 9.1 overs, while Robinson concluded with figures of 5 for 51 in 18 overs after taking a wicket with the opening delivery of the game. Robinson and Tongue have made history by collecting five wickets for England in the first innings of the current Test. However, the England bowlers had to decide who would keep the match ball as a memento after their spectacular five-wicket hauls. Eventually, they devised a simple solution: cut the ball in half so that each could claim a portion of the historic moment.

Ollie Robinson On Splitting The Ball Robinson made a fantastic comeback to Test cricket, dismissing up to four top-order with his bowling stats of 5/51 after taking a wicket with the first ball of the match. Tongue took 5/46 by building on his teammate's excellent start. The ground crew was then asked to cut the match ball in half. "As we were walking off Tonguey said, 'I think we should split it'. I was like, 'yeah, we should actually do that, I think it'd be quite cool'," Robinson said "I said 'do you reckon they'll be able to do it?' and within five minutes they brought it back up and it was done. It's one of those things that you don't really have too many halves of….half a cricket ball. It's something we'll never forget really and it's not too often two guys get five in the same innings, so it's a nice gesture and something to remember," he added. recently became a parent for the second time, and he revealed that he is taking advantage of his time with the England team to get some rest. "We had the newborn last Thursday at 2:00 AM, so I've been catching up on my sleep since I got to the hotel in Leeds. But it was a really special week last week having another baby, and it almost makes today even sweeter," he said.