Phew. That was a toss that Ben Stokes HAD to win!
Well done Crawley and Duckett!
174 without loss - AT LUNCH!
Crawley - 86 ball century. The fastest ever for an England opener - beating Gooch's record by nine balls!
We must assume that winning a match on this wicket will be hugely difficult. We shall have to take 20 wickets. Is the draw already looking favourite? - No. The speed of the scoring can give England the requisite time to bowl Pakistan out later in the game.
200 for none. When did we last see that?!
Duckett century. When did England last have both openers make a century! - By my reckoning, 2013 with Cook & Nick Compton.
233 for 1. Duckett removed for 107.
235 for 2. Both openers gone.
331 for 3 after just two sessions. Root gone.
Harry Brook - 50 not out.
Ollie Pope - 100 not out.
422 for 3 off 66 overs!
Pope departs for 108 at 462 for four.
Harry Brook - the 4th centurion out of the top 5 batsmen. Joe - what went wrong?
488 for four.
The first time in history that any side has had 4 centurions in the opening innings of a match!
500 up in 74.4 overs.
506 - 4 at stumps - - record for a day.
The best opening to a test I've ever seen by England batsmen! (I've only been watching cricket for well in excess of six decades.)
England 1st Innings
| Batter | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Mins | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | (75.0 overs) | 5064 | ||||||
| Crawley | b Rauf | 122 | 111 | 21 | 0 | 169 | 109.91 | |
| Duckett | lbw | b Z Mahmood | 107 | 110 | 15 | 0 | 162 | 97.27 |
| Pope | lbw | b Ali | 108 | 104 | 14 | 0 | 155 | 103.85 |
| Root | lbw | b Z Mahmood | 23 | 31 | 3 | 0 | 42 | 74.19 |
| Brook | not out | 101 | 81 | 14 | 2 | 129 | 124.69 | |
| Stokes | not out | 34 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 23 | 226.67 | |
| Extras | 2nb 1w 2b 6lb | 11 | ||||||
