England secured a monumental first Test match victory in Multan this morning, seeing victory by an innings and 47 runs in the first test against Pakistan.
The record books were rewritten in the searing heat of Pakistan. First Joe Root surpassed Sir Alastair Cook to become the all-time leading run scorer for England, whilst fellow Yorkshireman Harry Brook became just the sixth Englishman to score a test triple century.
Pakistan became the first team to lose by an innings after scoring as high as 550 runs in the first innings, despite Pakistan looking on top form and England struggling to find much joy on a pitch which favoured batters.
An England victory seemed a distant dream when stand in Skipper Ollie Pope fell for a duck and Ben Duckett had to retire hurt with a nasty thumb injury,
Root then strode out to the crease on a mission, and after impressive partnerships with Crawley and fit again Duckett, was joined by Harry Brook. The two went on to score another 454 runs between them, the highest partnership in England’s test history.
Joe Root became England’s all-time highest run scorer
By the time Root was trapped for LBW, he’d been at the crease for 10 hours, and the scoreboard read 703-4. Brook went on to score 317, supported by cameos from Jamie Smith and Chris Woakes. Pope declared with England sitting 823-7, the fourth highest innings total in test history.
Pakistan’s misery continued, as after a difficult few days in the field, Woakes bowled Abdullah Shafique with the first ball of the innings. Star man Babar Azam fell for just 5 to Gus Atkinson and the hosts finished the fourth day 6 wickets down.
England came out and wrapped up the match the next morning, as Jack Leach took all four remaining wickets to bowl Pakistan out for 220 in the second innings.
The result leaves Pakistan winless in Tests since July 2023, with new captain Shan Masood losing his first 6 in his new role. The skipper was disappointed with their performance after such a positive start.
He said: “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.”
England will look to continue their fine form under Brendon McCullum as captain Ben Stokes looks to return to the fold in the second test in a few days’ time.
