England cricket team shattered the record for the highest innings total against Pakistan on the fourth day of the ongoing first Test in Multan on Thursday.
England captain Ollie Pope decided to declare the first innings after his team piled up a mammoth 823-7. With this total England became the first team to cross the 800-run mark against Pakistan.
Prior to that, West Indies held the record for the highest total in a Test innings against Pakistan, having scored 790-3 in 1958.
Meanwhile, England also became the first time to cross the 800-run mark in a Test innings in the 21st century. Sri Lanka was the last team to cross the landmark during their record 952-6 against India in 1997.
Sri Lanka’s 952-6 is the highest total ever in a Test innings, while England’s 823-7 is the fourth-highest.
The visiting side achieved a lead of 267 runs courtesy of their strokeplay. Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse were playing at 17 and 9 respectively when the captain called them back.
England batters frustrated Pakistan bowlers with a dominant batting display on the morning of the fourth day as they racked up 166 runs without any loss, pushing the team’s total to 658-3 in the first session on Day 4.
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Joe Root fell early in the second session, getting lbw off Salman Ali Agha after playing a monumental knock of 262 runs from 375 balls, which featured 17 fours.
Harry Brook was joined by Jamie Smith and they switched gears, constructing a partnership of 75 runs from only 49 balls.
Brook completed his maiden triple-hundred during the partnership with a four off Saim Ayub, reaching the milestone in style. He took 310 balls to reach the milestone and became the sixth English player to do so.
Smith was removed by Naseem Shah after he played a 31-run knock from 24 balls with two fours and one six.
Saim Ayub got the prized scalp of Brook a few overs later, ending his historic knock at 317. Brook struck 32 boundaries, including three sixes during his 322-ball innings.
Gus Atkinson also fell prey to Saim in the same over before Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse added 24 runs to push the team’s total to 823-7.
For Pakistan, Saim and Naseem picked two wickets, while Shaheen Shah Afridi, Aamir Jamal and Salman Ali Agha bagged one each.