On Day 3 of the first Test between Pakistan and England, after the hosts posted a humongous total of 556, the visitors lost their stand-in skipper, Ollie Pope, who went back without troubling the scorers at all. Zak Crawley (78) paired up with Joe Root to put in 109 runs for the second wicket. Root was accompanied by Ben Duckett (84) in the middle as both batters stitched another 136 runs for the third wicket.
Thereafter, Harry Brook arrived and smashed 21 runs in just 15 balls and the momentum was complemented by Root from the other end. Both the batters started exerting pressure on the Pakistan bowlers, as the duo hit four boundaries off Shaheen Afridi combined in an over. At the end of the day’s play, Root and Brook remained unbeaten on 176* and 141* runs, respectively.
Root, while he was batting on 71, broke the record for the highest run-getter in Tests for England. He overtook the former England skipper, Alastair Cook, to reach the coveted spot. He brought up his 35th Test Ton and with that, he surpassed legendary Sunil Gavaskar’s (34) century tally as well. Moreover, in the process, he also surpassed Mahela Jayawardene, Younis Khan, and Brian Lara.
England batters made Pakistan bowlers toil hard
Speaking of Pakistan bowlers, they had to toil hard for wickets as their pace battery in Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Aamer Jamal picked one wicket each. They failed to break the partnership between Harry Brook and Joe Root as they shared an unbeaten 243-run stand between them. Notably, this was also the highest partnership for England on Pakistani soil. They went ahead of the 233 runs scored by Zak Crawley and Ben Ducket for the first wicket at Rawalpindi in 2022.
Also Read: Pietersen continues criticism over belter Multan track for PAK vs ENG Test
Currently, the English side is trailing by just 64 runs. Interestingly, they also almost broke their record for most runs scored by a team on a single day in Pakistan. Back in 2022, England had smashed a mind-boggling 506 runs in Rawalpindi. Hence they missed by a whisker to break that record by just 14 runs. In totality, the visitors will now hope to take the lead soon and score briskly in a bid to effect any result in the first test of the series. While Pakistan will hope to wrap up England quickly.
Meanwhile, Here’s how ‘X’ users reacted to England’s innings:
Stumps on Day 3 in Mulatan – a day in which England were all over Pakistan, and dominated like crazy.
The visitors have posted 492 runs for the loss of just 3 wickets, with Joe Root and Harry Brook unbeaten on 176 and 141 respectively 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
— Behram Qazi 🇵🇰 🇨🇦 (@DeafMango) October 9, 2024
Highest scores by England No 3s v Pakistan:
267 – Z Crawley – Southampton 2020
254 – JE Root – Old Trafford 2016
205 – ER Dexter – Karachi 1962
184 – IJL Trott – Lord’s 2010
176* – JE Root – Multan 2024
172 – ER Dexter – The Oval 1962
148 – KF Barrington – Lord’s 1967#PakvEng
— Arthur_S (@allanholloway) October 9, 2024
🏴🏴🏴🏴
🔸🏴 490/3
🔸Root. 175*
🔸Brook 140*
🔸 England team is behind by just 66 runs💥💥💥💥👏👏👏💪🏴🏴💥#ENGvsPAK #ENGvPAK #Pakistan #PakistanCricket #PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/CMRfqoC2vT
— Moin Khan (@MoinKha71711786) October 9, 2024
Joe Root – 176*(277)
Harry Brook – 141*(173)
Ben Duckett – 84(75)
Zak Crawley – 78(85)
ENGLAND 492 FOR 3 FROM 101 OVERS DURING DAY 3 STUMPS. 🫡#PakistanCricket #ENGvsPAK #engvspak2024 #England pic.twitter.com/Dl86qB892P
— Pradeep Kumar (@impradeep__02) October 9, 2024
#ENGvPAK 🏴 🇵🇰 #Pakistan #England #Cricket
Day 3 Update:
• England trail by just 160 runs with 7 wickets in hand.
• Joe Root (176) and Harry Brook (141) are involved in a 243-run partnership.
• Both batters have converted their fifties into big hundreds, with Root breaking Sir…
— The Cricket Stories (@thecricstories) October 9, 2024
Stumps on Day 3 in Mulatan – a day in which England were all over Pakistan, and dominated like crazy.
The visitors have posted 492 runs for the loss of just 3 wickets, with Joe Root and Harry Brook unbeaten on 176 and 141 respectively 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
— Behram Qazi 🇵🇰 🇨🇦 (@DeafMango) October 9, 2024
Harry Brook: 6 centuries & 9 fifties in just 31 Test innings! 💥🏏
With a 58+ average, he’s the future of England cricket! 🌟🇬🇧#HarryBrook #CricketStar #England #NextGen #TestCricket 🎉🔥 pic.twitter.com/PZGTCpwueF
— 🇮🇳Sports Fever💯Fb (@sports_fever24) October 9, 2024
Outstanding batting from unbeaten pair Joe Root 176 (277) and Harry Brook 141 (173) as England finish day two of the first Test 492-3
— Layth (@laythy29) October 9, 2024
Joe Root 173*(273)
Harry Brook 138*(165)
England 486/3, trailing Pakistan by just 70 runs in Multan. What a display of resilience and class! #PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/ONwU0wKhQR
— Shamim Sports. (@ShamimSports) October 9, 2024
💯 for Harry Brook on just 117 balls in Multan
England batters are giving real taste of their own medicine to Pakistan 👊
Harry Brook in Tests in Pakistan
Innings: 6 | 100s: 4 | 50s: 1#PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/86DvdyvmhW
— 𝙍𝘼𝙎𝙃𝙄𝘿 𝙎𝘼𝙔’𝙎 🇵🇰 (@Babarian56r) October 9, 2024
Harry Brook notches up his 6th test Hundred 💯.
4th against Pakistan in 6th innings.#PAKvENG #PakistanCricket #ENGvsPAK #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/Y0WZgPjoSB
— 78 Crickets (@78Crickets) October 9, 2024