England produced a sensational performance to pull off a truly remarkable victory in the first Test against Pakistan in Multan.
Hopes of a victory in the opening match of the series appeared slim after England racked up 823-7 declared on an incredibly placid pitch in response to Pakistan’s 556 in the first innings.
Going back out to bat midway through day four, Pakistan would have been optimistic of securing a draw but chasing leather for 150 overs clearly took its toll as the hosts collapsed to 59-5.
Salman Ali Agha and Aamer Jamal offered resistance with fifties to take the Test into the last day but Jack Leach took three quick wickets to wrap up an extraordinary win and put England 1-0 up in the three-match series.
It feels a long time ago that Pakistan won the toss and appeared to take control of the series opener as Abdullah Shafique and captain Shan Masood both hit centuries to take the hosts to 250-1 on day one.
Ali Agha also reached three figures and Saud Shakeel made 82 as Pakistan posted 556 in 149 overs, the wickets shared around by England bowlers Leach, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse.
Pakistan must have sensed an opening as Ben Duckett was prevented from opening due to a finger injury and his replacement, stand-in captain Ollie Pope, went in the second over for a duck.
But Joe Root put on over 100 with Zak Crawley, who hit a brisk 78, and 136 with Duckett before the latter fell 16 runs short of his hundred.
That brought Root and Harry Brook together and the Yorkshire teammates shared an incredible and record-breaking partnership worth 454 to grind Pakistan into the dirt.
Root made a career-best 262 – surpassing Sir Alastair Cook in the process to become England’s all-time leading run-scorer in Test cricket – while Brook scored a quite stunning 317 from 322 balls, including 32 boundaries.
England’s victory in numbers
823 – fourth highest score in Test cricket
823 – England’s highest score since World War Two
823 – the highest score against Pakistan by any nation
454 – Joe Root and Harry Brook shared the highest partnership for England
317 – Harry Brook’s innings was the fifth-highest score by an England player
262 – Joe Root’s highest score in Test cricket
12,664 – Joe Root became leading run-scorer for England
34 – years since an England player scored a triple century
3 – third time two players have scored more than 250 in a Test innings
6 – bowlers conceded more than 100 runs for only the second time in Tests
5 – other England players have scored a triple century
310 – balls for Harry Brook to reach 300 (the fastest in history)
267 – England’s lead was the most ever for a team conceding 550+
3 – the number of partnerships in history that exceeded Root and Brook’s
2 – pairs have scored double hundreds for England in the same innings
1 – the first pair from England to share multiple 300+ partnerships
1 – maiden over in England’s 150-over innings
4 – centuries for Harry Brook in four Tests against Pakistan
3 – double hundreds for Joe Root in Asia, the most for a touring player
England had raced past their highest Test score since World War Two by the time Pope finally put Pakistan out of their misery and declared, the visitors’ 823-7 coming in exactly 150 overs.
After spending almost two full days in the field, Abdullah Shafique lasted just one ball in his second dig, Chris Woakes bowling the Pakistan opener with the first delivery of the innings.
Atkinson nicked off Masood in the eighth over before Pakistan lost two wickets in two balls, Atkinson also responsible for the removal of struggling Babar Azam before Saim Ayub fell to Carse.
Defeat inside four days looked a real possibility when Carse bowled Muhammad Rizwan and Leach got in on the act to dismiss Shakeel, but Ali Agha and Jamal at least took the Test into a fifth day with a much-needed 109-run partnership.
But England were not to be denied a remarkable win, Leach taking three wickets on the morning of day five to seal a brilliant victory by an innings and 47 runs.
‘That is ridiculous,’ ex-England bowler Steven Finn said on BBC Test Match Special. ‘A brilliant Test match for England.
‘They looked down and out after a day-and-a-half. They fought their way into the game with the bat in hand, led by Joe Root and Harry Brook – that partnership put the nails in the coffin of Pakistan.
‘An impressive victory for England.’
Pakistan captain Masood added: ‘We’ve spoken about the third or fourth innings but, at the end of the day, it’s a team game and everything has its advantages and repercussions as a team.
‘When you put 550 on the board, it’s important to back that up with 10 wickets and keep the game close. That’s something we didn’t do.
‘If we take those wickets and keep England around our score or a maybe a bit more, then these 220 runs on a fifth-day pitch become challenging.’
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