Multan: Joe Root and Harry Brook struck unbeaten centuries and shared a 243-run partnership for the fifth wicket on a record-breaking day as England came up with a strong response to reach 492/3 against Pakistan at stumps on the third day of the opening Test at the Multan Stadium here on Wednesday.
Root, who had reached 32 at the end of the second day, came up with another majestic effort to continue his superb form from the Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka in which he struck a hundred in both innings, hitting 143 and 103. He was unbeaten at 176 as he helped England come up with a solid response to Pakistan’s massive first-innings score of 556. Bosch was batting on 141, a blazing effort coming off 173 deliveries, hitting 12 boundaries and one six.
While scoring his third century in three Tests, Root made history as he became the highest scorer for England, breaking the record held by Alistair Cook, going past his score of 12,472 runs that has stood as the record for England since 2018.
It was a day of milestones for Root as he had earlier in the day surged into the top-six century makers in Test cricket after hitting his 35th century. He reached the three-figure mark off 187 balls, anchoring the innings with patience while not losing sight of scoring runs.
He had earlier shared a 136-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Ben Duckett, who hammered a 75-ball 84, hitting 11 boundaries.
Harry Brook survived a close shave when the ball rolled on to hit the stumps but the bails did not fall and the England batter made the most of the opportunity to score a superb century that helped England put themselves in a strong position in their response as still trail the home team by 64 runs with seven wickets in hand and two days of play remaining.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 556 lead England 492/3 in 101 overs (Joe Root 176 not out, Harry Brook 141 not out, Ben Duckett 84, Zak Crawley 78; Shaheen Shah Afridi 1-88) by 64 runs.
(IANS)
