Watch cricket video highlights of England tour of Pakistan 2024. First test between Pakistan and England. Venue of the match will be Multan.
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Day four was what Pakistan feared and England had hoped of, and it was arguably not something this submissive Multan field deserved. After initially seemed to be heading nowhere, the first Test has suddenly turned to the advantage of the tourists, who are about to record yet another historic victory here. This match includes additional history for England because to their incredible 823 for 7, their third-highest total and fourth overall, which included Joe Root’s new career-best of 262 and Harry Brook’s first-ever triple-century of 317.
Pakistan, meanwhile, reached unprecedented lows. Their second innings began horribly as a result of a difficult time in the field; they lost Abdullah Shafique at the first ball and ended up at 82 for 6, finally ending at 152 for 6. They are probably three wickets from losing their sixth straight Test match, and their third at home, after Abrar Ahmed was sent to the hospital due to a fever. That Pakistan was still up by 64 when they went to bed on Thursday morning seemed like a lifetime ago.
But even then, the indicators were suspicious, and they proved to be so with Brook and Root returning on 144 and 176, respectively. It had reached 454 by the time Root was trapped leg before wicket by Salman Agha, breaking their partnership, which was the biggest outright for England and the fourth greatest for any wicket against any side in Tests. They were supposed to split on 258 but Root, on 186, had a reprieve when he pulled Naseem Shah to midwicket thanks to a straightforward missed catch by Babar Azam.
After Root became England’s highest Test run scorer on the third day and went on to achieve 20,000 runs across all formats with his first boundary of the day, Brook arrived as the less spectacular of the two tales. However, the younger Yorkshireman would grab the news when he became the sixth triple centurion in England—the first since Graham Gooch. Nine years after Gooch’s historic 333 against India at Lord’s in 1990, Brook finally ended on 317 from an astounding 322 balls, showing incredible fitness and shot-making all through.
It took him 310 deliveries to attain the milestone, which was 32 balls short of Virender Sehwag’s 2008 performance against South Africa. This made it the second fastest Test triple century. That kind of effort was necessary to overshadow Root as he scored his sixth double-century in Test cricket; the only player for England with more is Wally Hammond (7). Root had been batting since day two’s evening, when he came to the plate at 4 for 1 following Ollie Pope’s departure.
It took Root just eight deliveries out of the match’s 285.1 overs to be removed from the field when he was removed, leaving England ahead by 147 at 703 for 4. He should have had more than 14.5 overs in the sheds before the declaration, but he will be relieved that day five should have some more recuperation time after suffering from cramp on day three. After easily surpassing his previous best Test score of 186 against New Zealand in Wellington in 2023 and a notable first-class knock of 194 against Kent in 2022, Brook was still on 260.
A simple single off his 245th delivery sealed his first red-ball double. It took 118 deliveries to reach 100, then another 127 to reach 200. Only 65 deliveries, with 10 fours and two sixes, were needed for the following round. He got within ten runs of that triple with the first of those powerful hits coming from Salman, which was true and accurate. The second came from Naseem, who charg and thwacked over an extra cover. Jamie Smith’s stylish cameo helped the “nervous 290s” in their chase for fast runs before the declaration, part of a larger 41-ball partnership of 79 for the fifth wicket.
There was no indication of panic in the group. He reached the promised land with a clubbed back-foot drive to the straight boundary off part-time legspinner Saim Ayub, his 31st overall. It was reasonable to assume at that point that Len Hutton’s unofficial English record of 364 and Gooch’s 333 were in jeopardy. However, Brook’s innings was cut short by a top-edged sweep that was intended to pick up the tempo. Having to make do with fifth place on the list of England’s highest individual innings will be his fate.
Fielders from Pakistan gathered to offer their congratulations to him, obviously relieved to finally see out a batsman who now has more Test runs in their nation than he does (785 to 761). When Brydon Carse, who hit his second ball in Test cricket for six overs long-off, joined Chris Woakes for a brief partnership of 24, Brook was in the middle of three wickets falling in 20 deliveries for as many runs. At that time, stand-in skipper Ollie Pope brought the team in with a lead of 267.
At the time, with six bowlers giving up 100 runs or more for just the second time in Test history, it seemed like a mercy to the hosts, who were nursing the largest total they had given up in an innings. But there was much to come. Horribly, Woakes found the required form in the air and off the pitch to remove Shafique’s off stump during the six-over interval that before tea. Even though Woakes would later dismiss Shan Masood for a huge jump at mid-off and allow Gus Atkinson to miss an equally difficult opportunity off his bowling at cover, apologies would be made at the beginning of the evening session.
Atkinson eventually got Masood, as the captain of Pakistan gifted Zak Crawley a soft catch, one of two midwickets that he managed to get. Then, with a length ball in the off stump channel, the Surrey fast left a struggling Babar Azam edging past Smith. Next, it was Carse’s time to open up some more batting gaps, but he could give Ayub credit for giving him a simple one with the opening ball of the second innings. After being served a short, wide loosener, the left-hander attempted to clear cover, but it was an aberration that needed a fantastic take from Ben Duckett, who was running back from mid-off.
It said that Pakistan’s true enemies weren’t on the ground, but rather existed in their imaginations. That would be the worst delivery that Carse, who is regarded as the best seamer, has ever bowled. He was striking the ball hard and getting spectacular movement into the right-handers through the air while bowling at speeds in the mid-to-late eighties. Mohammad Rizwan’s middle stump was knocked back with a delivery that exhibited all of those qualities, giving the rookie rapid figures of 2 for 39 from his 10 overs thus far.
Pope was a cunning captain who rotated the quicks in addition to choosing his field placements. And he deserved credit when Jack Leach replaced Carse and dismissed Saud Shakeel, who was caught behind off the left-arm spinner’s second ball. That would be the last wicket to fall, although Aamer Jamal, at number two, might have had another when he top-edged a pull shot off Carse, which Shoaib Bashir spilled at deep backward square leg. Building on the respite, Jamal went with Salman Agha, whose 41 brought some order back into the proceedings. Even so, it’s just bought another day to postpone a humiliating defeat.
