ENG vs PAK, Day 1 Test: England 506 for 4(Crawley 122, Pope 108, Duckett 107, Brook 101*) vs Pakistan

England defeated Pakistan for the first time in 17 years with a record-breaking score of 506 for 4 thanks to a quartet of centuries on day one. On a remarkable day in which England’s run rate barely dipped below a run per ball as they became the first side to score 500 runs on day one of a Test, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, who put on an opening stand of 233 runs, joined Ollie Pope and Harry Brook, the latter of whom was only playing in his second Test, in posting hundreds. 

After Brook scored his first fifty in a Test, he whipped Saud Shakeel for six fours in one over to nearly every part of the ground to accelerate his century chase. After he and Pope had made 176 runs for the fourth wicket, Brook hit his century in just 80 balls. When bad light stopped play, he was still not out on 101 and Ben Stokes was unbeaten on 34. On the first day of a Test, Crawley and Duckett had established a solid foundation for their team, which had been weakened by a sickness bug just 24 hours earlier. As a result, Crawley had threatened to become the first Englishman to score a hundred before lunch. 

Despite the fact that England were only able to confirm that they had a fit XI two and a half hours before the start, Stokes, who was among the most affected, fronted up for the crucial toss and won it.They were only forced to make one change to their intended team: Will Jacks made his Test debut in place of Ben Foakes, who was still recovering, and Pope took over as wicketkeeper. 

Crawley hit 267 in his last match against Pakistan to fulfill his promise of three half-centuries in 11 innings. 

After that knock in August 2020, he went through a turbulent period, scoring just two fifties in 21 innings, followed by 10 scores in the single digits and two ducks, bringing his place under increasing scrutiny. That was until he scored a century in the drawn first Test against the West Indies in March of this year, which appeared to prepare him for the English summer.

However, he went on to have another unspectacular spell until he scored a quick 69 runs unbeaten off just 57 balls in the third and final Test against South Africa in September. Crawley’s most recent innings was next-level fast because he perfectly combined England’s assertive style under Brendon McCullum with the need to make the most of his time in the middle while some of his teammates regained their strength. 

Crawley opened with three fours off Naseem Shah, one of only four players in England’s original XI named on Tuesday to participate in an optional training session on match day. As a result, England were 14 without losing in the most expensive first over of a Test in two decades. After 57 T20Is and 15 ODIs, Haris Rauf made his Test debut in the eighth over. However, Crawley continued to find the boundary with back-to-back fours either side of the field in Rauf’s second over, and after 10 overs, the tourists were 63 for 0. 

Duckett admitted that he thought his Test career was over after falling for 5 and 0 against a rampant R Ashwin in England’s heavy defeat to India in November 2016. After a successful Championship campaign for Nottinghamshire, Duckett returned six years later and ramped Zahid Mahmood to the fence by reverse-sweeping and ramming him through third. Despite this, Duckett appeared confident as he ramped Mahmood to the fence. 

Crawley scored his half-century by sweeping Zahid through fine leg for four in just 38 balls, while Duckett scored a run-a-ball fifty in the second hour and England scored 100 in 13.5 overs. Crawley’s innings was dominant, with the exception of a strong appeal for lbw in the third over that appeared to be high due to the absence of a functioning DRS and a slash off Rauf that went just wide of a slow-moving Mohammad Ali at mid-on to move into the 90s.

By the end of the morning session, he had hit 17 fours, and he and Duckett took England to lunch without a loss, with 174 runs on the board. With right-arm seamer Ali, leg spinner Zahid, and middle-order batter Shakeel making their debuts alongside Haris, Pakistan, which is without injured Shaheen Shah Afridi, appeared toothless and required a breakthrough. 

Through Zahid and Rauf, they eventually made it there in nine balls. Crawley was able to overturn his lbw dismissal on 99 by playing around Naseem’s full delivery, which was shown to be going down the leg side but landed low on the front pad. Crawley’s deft punch through the covers two balls later resulted in an 86-ball century, the fastest by an England Test opener and joint fifth-fastest overall. A beaming smile spread across Duckett’s face as he took in the applause as he scored his first Test ton against Rauf with a pulled four. Although Pakistan had to review Joel Wilson’s not-out decision, his stay was short-lived when he missed his reverse sweep of Zahid and was struck on the pad in line with off stump. 

England’s longest Test stand against Pakistan came to an end at this point, and they went from 233 runs unbeaten to 235 runs unbeaten when Crawley followed a short time later. Crawley was hit by Rauf’s reverse swing as the ball slid through the gate and deflected off the middle stump. Before Pope and Brook continued, Joe Root lost to Mahmood lbw for just 23 points, requesting a review to overturn his dismissal. Brook muscled Rauf over deep midwicket in the evening session, helping himself to another six after pulling Zahid for six on the stroke of tea. He scored his fifty with a single in the following over, just as Pope scored his century by jolting Agha Salman off his feet with a single to reach the mark in 90 balls. 

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Brook surged ahead with England’s fastest Test hundred now in his sights, even when Pope fell to Ali, lbw on review, to give Pakistan something to smile about in the rapidly diminishing light. He came in at No. despite not surpassing Gilbert Jessop’s 1902 total of 76 balls. When he hit Naseem with a beautiful cover drive for four, he was three behind Jonny Bairstow. Overnight, the hosts had even more things to worry about because England still had the firepower of Jacks and fellow debutant Liam Livingstone to come on a batter-friendly surface.