Yorkshire pair put on 454 before Pakistan lose wicket off first ball of second innings
Tea Pakistan 556 and 23 for 1 (Ayub 13*, Masood 10*) trail England 823 for 7 dec (Brook 317, Root 262, Duckett 84, Crawley 78) by 244 runs
Harry Brook became England’s sixth Test triple-centurion, and first since Graham Gooch, as part of a mammoth 823 for 7 declared that saw the tourists post a first-innings lead of 267 over Pakistan on day four of the first Test in Multan. Joe Root, the day after breaking Alastair Cook’s Test run-scoring record for England, made a career-best 262.
Brook, who was born nine years after Gooch’s 333 against India at Lord’s in 1990, eventually finished on 317 from a remarkable 322 balls, displaying supreme fitness and shot-making throughout. The 310 deliveries it took to reach the milestone made it the second quickest to 300, 32 balls shy of Virender Sehwag’s effort against South Africa in 2008.
The 26-year-old made hay on a pitch that remains a struggle for the bowlers, with six of those used by Pakistan conceding over 100 runs. The hosts’ opening effort of 556 was made to look small fry, with England’s first innings running 150 overs, just one more than Pakistan’s.
England were still trailing by 64 – a deficit knocked off within the first 50 minutes of play – when Brook resumed his innings on 144, and he began as the lesser of two stories as Root, who started again on 176, went on his sixth career double-century. Only Wally Hammond (7) has more for England.
By the time the pair were separated – Root trapped lbw by Salman Agha – their stand had reached 454, the fourth-highest in Tests for any wicket against any team, and the most against this opposition. They should have been parted on 258, but a simple dropped catch from Babar Azam gave Root a reprieve on 186 when he pulled Naseem Shah to midwicket. Nevertheless, Root had been batting since the evening of day two, when Ollie Pope’s dismissal brought him to the crease at 4 for 1.
By the time he was dismissed, Root had spent just eight deliveries of the 285.1 overs of the match off the field. And he had helped facilitate a strong position for England, departing with the score 703 for 4, leading by 147.
Brook remained on 260. He had already breezed past his previous highest Test score of 186 against New Zealand at Wellington in 2023, and a standout first-class knock of 194 – against Kent in 2022 – for a maiden red-ball double, with a single from his 245th delivery.
His third 100 runs took just 65 deliveries, and featured 10 fours and two sixes – the first straight and true off Salman, the second charged and thwacked over extra cover off Naseem, which took him to within 10 of his triple.
There was no sign of nervousness in the “nervous 290s”, with the hunt for quick runs ahead of the declaration aided by a neat cameo from Jamie Smith, as part of a broader 41-ball stand of 79 for the fifth wicket. A clubbed back-foot shot to the straight boundary – his 31st overall – off part-time legspinner Saim Ayub took him to the promised land off his 310th delivery.
At that juncture, there was reason to believe Gooch’s 333 and Len Hutton’s outright English record of 364 were under threat. But in a bid to step up the pace, a top-edged sweep to short fine leg brought an end to Brook’s innings.
Pakistan’s fielders lined up to congratulate him, no doubt pleased to finally see the back of him. Brook was the middle of three wickets to fall in 20 deliveries for as many runs, before Brydon Carse – striking his second ball in Test cricket for six over long-off – joined Chris Woakes for a cursory stand of 24 and stand-in captain Ollie Pope finally called the team in.
Having conceded their highest Test total, things got immediately worse for Pakistan when Abdullah Shafique’s off stump was knocked out by Woakes with the first ball of their second innings. And things could have gone further south had Woakes held on to a chance at mid-off with skipper Shan Masood on 6 off Gus Atkinson, who then returned the favour putting down a chance off Woakes as Masood drove aerially to cover on 7.
Pakistan eventually went into tea on 23 for 1 after six overs.
Vithushan Ehantharajah is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
