Harry Brook has notched up his maiden triple century in the ongoing first Test against Pakistan in Multan. Harry Brook is the sixth England batter to do so in the history of Test cricket and the first after 1990 for his country. At the same time, Harry Brook has also broken Virender Sehwag’s 20-year-old massive record to become the new Sultan of Multan.
Sehwag had scored 309 runs off 375 deliveries back in 2004 in Multan as India had amassed 675 runs in the first innings before declaring. Harry Brook has surpassed Sehwag’s tally with his gigantic effort as England are approaching the 800-run mark in their innings. Harry Brook’s 300 is also the second-fastest behind Sehwag who had done it back in 2008 in Chennai against South Africa.
In fact, Harry Brook’s 317-run knock is the second-highest individual score by a foreign player in Pakistan ever in Test cricket. He fell only 17 runs short of Mark Taylor’s unbeaten 334-run knock that came way back in 1998 in Peshawar. Coming back to Sehwag’s record, Harry Brook’s 317 is now the highest ever in Multan in Test cricket.
Day 4 : Morning Session : Joe Root- Harry Brook monumental stand deflates Pakistan
A monumental partnership between Joe Root and Harry Brook, which currently stands at 409 with no end to it anywhere in sight, has completely flattened Pakistan in the opening Test at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Root and Brook, who had already made merry on the third day, continued in the same vein and in the process, ended up registering their respective double centuries. By lunch on Day 4, England’s lead also went past 100 with more carnage firmly in sight.
Pakistan didn’t get off to the greatest of starts to the day when they took the field. Abrar Ahmed didn’t walk out as a result of fever and Babar Azam dropped a straightforward chance that would have seen Root depart for 186. To rub salt into their wounds, he immediately followed it up with a boundary before eventually bringing up a double ton for the sixth time in his career. At the other end, Brook reached 150 off just 186 balls as the writing was already on the wall for the home side.
In no time, England also managed to take the first innings lead. The Pakistan skipper kept ringing in the changes but to no avail as the two batters kept piling on the runs. Quite extraordinarily, England’s run rate continued to hover around five. The two batters kept toying with the attack and had raised England’s highest ever partnership in Test cricket against Pakistan and shortly after, it was Brook’s turn to bring up his double century.
Just minutes before the break, Root went past his highest Test score and is looking well set to bring up a maiden triple century as well once play resumes. If the visitors do manage to bat out the entire day in the same vein, the prospect of a win cannot be ruled out on the final day against an exhausted outfit.
That Pakistan arrived at the ground on Thursday morning still ahead by 64 felt a lifetime ago. But even then, with Brook and Root resuming on 144 and 176, respectively, the signs were ominous, and so they proved.
By the time their stand was broken – Root trapped lbw by Salman Agha – their stand had reached 454, England’s highest outright and the fourth-highest in Tests for any wicket against any team. They should have been parted on 258, but a simple dropped catch from Babar Azam gave Root, on 186, a reprieve when he pulled Naseem Shah to midwicket.
Day 4 : Post Lunch Session : Records tumble as England breach 800 after Harry Brook’s 317
England became the first team in over 27 years to breach the 800-run mark in Test cricket as they continued to pile on the runs in Multan against Pakistan in the opening Test. In the process, Harry Brook became the sixth Englishman to register a triple century. It was the second fastest triple ton in Test history and he looked good to even go further to get closer to Brian Lara’s 400 before eventually departing for a 322-ball 317.
Joe Root looked set for a triple ton as well in that post-lunch session but Agha Salman managed to trap the former England skipper leg-before-wicket for 262. The two batters were involved in an epic 454-run partnership that dominated proceedings in the first half of the day. The visitors finally put an end to Pakistan’s misery by declaring at 823/7 that saw them fetch a first innings lead of 267.
Resuming at 658/3 after lunch, it was Harry Brook who took the early initiative with a couple of boundaries off Saim Ayub. In no time, the 25-year-old managed to bring up 250 to go almost par with Root, as it marked only the third instance of two batters reaching the 250-landmark in the same innings. That gigantic 454-run stand was also the fourth highest ever in the format’s history. Just when both batters looked set to turn on the heat further to register their triple tons, a ball from Salman kept low to trap Root lbw.
Jamie Smith then signaled his intentions with a boundary second ball as England showed no signs of slowing down. Brook, on his part, took on Salman for a six and a boundary in the same over before charging down against Naseem Shah to hammer another six to move into the 290s.
And when he eventually got to 300, Harry Brook had taken just 310 balls which was the fastest only behind Virender Sehwag’s triple ton against South Africa in 2008. Any chances of Harry Brook then edging closer to Brian Lara’s throne evaporated as Pakistan picked up a few wickets before the declaration.
Harry Brook arrived as the lesser of the two stories after Root had become England’s leading Test run-scorer on day three, then registered 20,000 across all formats with his first boundary of the day. But the junior Yorkshireman would seize the headlines by becoming England’s sixth triple-centurion, and first since Graham Gooch.
Harry Brook, who was born nine years after Gooch’s 333 against India at Lord’s in 1990, eventually finished on 317 from a remarkable 322 balls, displaying remarkable fitness and shot-making throughout. The 310 deliveries it took him to reach the milestone made it the second quickest to Test triple, 32 balls shy of Virender Sehwag’s effort against South Africa in 2008.
It needed an effort like that to put Root in the shade as he notched a sixth Test double-century; only Wally Hammond (7) has more for England. Root had been batting since the evening of day two, when Ollie Pope’s dismissal brought him to the crease at 4 for 1.
By the time Root was dismissed, departing with the score 703 for 4, England leading by 147, he had spent just eight deliveries of the 285.1 overs of the match off the field. After battling cramp on day three, he deserved more than 14.5 overs in the sheds before the declaration came, but will take solace in the fact there should be some extra rest time on day five.
Harry Brook remained on 260, having breezed past his previous highest Test score of 186 against New Zealand at Wellington in 2023, and a standout first-class knock of 194 – against Kent in 2022. A maiden red-ball double was confirmed with a straightforward single from his 245th delivery.
After 118 deliveries to get to 100, then 127 more to get to 200, the next stage required just 65, featuring 10 fours and two sixes. The first of those lusty hits was straight and true off Salman, the second a charge and thwack over extra cover off Naseem, which took him to within 10 of that triple.
There was no sign of anxiety in the “nervous 290s”, with the hunt for quick runs ahead of the declaration aided by a neat cameo from Jamie Smith, as part of a broader 41-ball stand of 79 for the fifth wicket. A clubbed back-foot shot to the straight boundary – his 31st overall – off part-time leg spinner Saim Ayub took him to the promised land.
At that juncture, there was reason to believe Gooch’s 333 and Len Hutton’s outright English record of 364 were under threat. But in a bid to step up the pace, a top-edged sweep brought an end to Brook’s innings. He will have to settle for fifth on the list of England’s highest individual innings.
Pakistan’s fielders lined up to congratulate him, no doubt pleased to finally see the back of a batter who now has more Test runs in their country than his own (785 to 761). Harry Brook was the middle of three wickets to fall in 20 deliveries for as many runs, before Brydon Carse – who struck his second ball in Test cricket for six over long-off – joined Chris Woakes for a cursory stand of 24, at which point stand-in captain Ollie Pope called the team in with a lead of 267.
It felt, at the time, like a mercy to the hosts, who were nursing the highest total they had conceded in an innings, with six bowlers conceding 100 runs or more for only the second time in Test history. But more pain was in the offing.
A six-over period before tea started horrifically, as Woakes found some necessary shape through the air and off the pitch to take out Shafique’s off stump. And though Woakes would go on to drop Shan Masood, leaping at mid-off, then see a similarly tough chance missed off his bowling by Gus Atkinson at cover, amends would be made at the start of the evening session.
Day 4 : Afternoon Session : Pakistan on the ropes after Brook 317, Root 262
Twenty years after Virender Sehwag serenaded the Multan Stadium with a glorious triple hundred, the ground’s renovated stands became the backdrop of a stunning 317 from Harry Brook, who became England’s sixth triple centurion in Test cricket. In the company of Joe Root, who got to a sixth Test match double enroute a career-best 262, the visitors posted the fourth-highest total of 823 for 7.
It left Pakistan buried under a mountain of a deficit to overcome in the third innings despite having scored 556 themselves in the first dig. The scoreboard pressure combined with England’s propensity to extract a little more uncertainty from a fourth-day pitch proved too much for Pakistan to handle as they slipped tamely to 152 for 6 and faced a sixth Test defeat on the bounce.
By the time Ollie Pope declared the innings deep into the second session of play on the fourth day, Brook and Root had effected enough mental disintegration on their hosts. That England did so while scoring at 5.48 runs to the over meant they roared ahead without wasting too much time in the game.
The visitors started the day 64 behind. By Lunch, they were ahead by 102 and despite batting just one more over than Pakistan had in the first innings, England scored an additional 267 runs before their captain realised that they had enough runs and time in the bank to force a result.
Several batting records fell by the wayside during this charge and significant column inches will be dedicated towards them, today and in the days to come. At the centre of it all was the 454-run partnership between Root and Brook – the fourth-highest in the history of the format and the highest ever against Pakistan.
The hosts had an opportunity early in the morning to avoid that ignominy and put a lid on the stand at 258. But Babar Azam shelled a straightforward chance at mid-wicket. Root was on 186 then and after putting away the next ball for one of his 17 boundaries, he eased himself to a double ton – leaving him just one behind the England record of seven doubles held by Wally Hammond.
Root, who set major personal milestones yesterday also passed his previous best of 254 before his 375-ball knock was finally ended by Agha Salman with a ball that kept low and struck the England star on the pads. England had 703 on the board and were ahead by 147 at that point.
The 26-year-old Harry Brook’s progress from his overnight score of 144 was just as serene. He got to his maiden first-class double-hundred by leisurely opening his bat face to guide Naseem Shah to the fielder in the deep. That single came off the 245th delivery he faced in the innings. His third hundred took just 65 more balls as England moved into declaration batting. In addition to the 29 fours he hit, Brook also cleared the ropes three times.
One of those sixes – a charge and smash over extra cover against Naseem Shah – took Harry Brook into the 290s. There were no nerves and the spread-out field ensured there wasn’t much to fear. He got to the triple hundred with a backfoot club straight down the ground off part-timer Saim Ayub. The feat was achieved off the 310th ball making Harry Brook the second-fastest to the landmark behind only Virender Sehwag’s efforts in Chennai against South Africa.
Not long after Brook fell, Pope declared his team’s innings as closed. It was time for his bowlers to run roughshod over a tired opposition that had six bowlers conceding over a 100 runs, including the lead spinner Abrar Ahmed, who didn’t take the field on Day 4 after being hospitalized with a fever. If they hadn’t had a bad enough day at that point, Pakistan were also a wicket down to the first ball they faced in the second innings.
First-innings centurion Abdullah Shafique attempted a tired drive and was cleaned up by a Chris Woakes delivery that swung away and nipped back. Right after the Tea interval, Gus Atkinson struck twice to dismiss Shan Masood and Babar Azam. The former lived dangerously and survived a couple of half chances before chipping a ball that appeared to stop on him straight to mid-wicket.
Babar’s streak of not getting to 50 then extended to an 18th innings as he nicked a delivery in the channel. Saim Ayub attempted to flay a Brydon Carse delivery and ended up giving a skier for extra-cover to catch, leaving Pakistan teetering at 41 for 4.That quickly became 59 for 5 as Carse nipped one back into Mohammad Rizwan’s stumps.
Saud Shakeel looked to stay positive and struck four boundaries in his 33-ball knock of 29 but he was caught behind off Jack Leach as Pakistan faced the risk of inexplicably losing this Test in four days. Agha Salman and Aamer Jamal managed to survive the last 12 overs and batted positively to put off the inevitable by a day.
Atkinson finally snared Masood, as the Pakistan skipper offered a tame catch to Zak Crawley, one of two catching midwickets. The Surrey quick then got a length ball in the off stump channel to leave a beleaguered Babar Azam edging through to Smith.
It was then Carse’s turn to punch a few more holes in the batting line-up, though he owes Ayub credit for handing him an easy one with his first ball of the second innings. The left-hander’s attempt to clear cover after being served up a short, wide loosener was an aberration, even if it required a superb take from Ben Duckett, over his shoulder, sprinting back from mid-off. It spoke of the fact the real demons were in Pakistan’s minds, rather than under foot.
That would be the worst ball bowled by Carse, arguably the pick of the seamers, hitting the pitch hard and getting extravagant movement into the right-handers through the air, while operating in the mid-to-late 80s mph. A delivery showcasing all of those traits knocked back Mohammad Rizwan’s middle stump to give the debutant quick figures of 2 for 39 from his 10 overs so far.
Pope captained smartly, not just with his field positions, but the way he rotated the quicks. And he was due credit when Jack Leach removed Saud Shakeel caught behind off the left-arm spinner’s second delivery, having replaced Carse.
That would be the final wicket to fall, though England should have had another when Aamer Jamal, on 2, top-edged a pull shot off Carse that was spilled by Shoaib Bashir at deep backward square leg. Jamal built on the reprieve to accompany Salman Agha, whose 41 restored some order to proceedings. Even it has only delayed a humbling defeat for another day.
Road Ahead on Day 5 for England and Pakistan
England’s staggering 823 for 7, their third highest total and fourth overall, featuring Harry Brook’s maiden triple-century of 317 and Joe Root’s new career-best of 262, has laden this match with more history for themselves. Pakistan, meanwhile, plumbed new depths.
A tough time in the field led to a dreadful start to their second innings, losing Abdullah Shafique first ball and then finding themselves 82 for 6, before eventually closing on 152 for 6. With Abrar Ahmed hospitalized with fever, they are likely three wickets away from a sixth consecutive Test defeat, and third at home.
What an extraordinary day for England. All the players, including the two Pakistan batters, shake hands with Brook before leaving the field. His triple hundred not only put him in an elite company of cricketers for England, but has also paved the way towards a result which now seems only a formality with just four Pakistan wickets left.
Records were shattered left and right as Brook and Root combined in a 454-run stand for the fourth wicket, leading the visitors to an enormous total of 823 in 150 overs. Root also made a career-highest 262, but it was his Yorkshire mate who went on to complete the triple hundred.
In response, Pakistan have absolutely crumbled. For all the talk of how flat the pitch is, and it really is very flat, they’ve still managed to go down in a heap with the bat. Huge props to the England pacers as well for making the most with the new ball. The likes of Carse and Atkinson bent their backs and bashed it into the pitch, managing to find some life out of the cracks. However, Pakistan have also contributed to their own downfall. Not much they can do from here with Salman having Jamal and the tail for company, or can they.