NOTTINGHAM: Opening batter Ben Duckett helped England break the record for the fastest team fifty in Test cricket during the ongoing match against West Indies at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
After being invited to bat first by West Indies, England lost opening batter Zak Crawley on the third ball of the match.
However, what followed was a frantic display of aggressive batting by Duckett, with support from Ollie Pope. Duckett struck 19 runs off the second over, bowled by Jayden Seales.
Pope hit Alzarri Joseph for two boundaries before Duckett scored nine runs off Seales’ second over. Duckett helped the team reach the 50-run mark with a four off Joseph in only 26 balls.
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The 4.2-over fifty by England is the fastest in the history of Test cricket. They broke their own previous record of scoring 50 in 4.3 overs against South Africa back in 1994.
Fastest team 50s in Test cricket: (where known)
4.2 – England vs WI, Nottingham, 2024
4.3 – England vs SA, The Oval, 1994
4.6 – England vs SL, Manchester, 2002
5.2 – Sri Lanka vs PAK, Karachi, 2004
5.3 – India vs ENG, Chennai, 2008
5.3 – India vs WI, Port of Spain, 2023
Notably, the hosts, who lead the three-match series 1-0, made one change to their Playing XI as pacer Mark Wood replaced James Anderson, who concluded his decorated career on a winning note as England crushed West Indies by an innings and 114 runs in the first Test at Lord’s.
Meanwhile, West Indies made a late change to their previously announced playing XI as Kevin Sinclair replaced Gudakesh Motie.
Playing XIs
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir
West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Kevin Sinclair, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales