England set 11 astonishing records in Pakistan Test as opponent left 'disgusted'
England racked up 823-7 against Pakistan, with Joe Root and Harry Brook sharing a stunning 454-run partnership that broke a huge number of records in the process
by Matthew Cooper · The MirrorEngland broke 11 records as they smashed 823-7 before declaring in the first Test against Pakistan in Multan.
In response to the hosts' 556 in their first innings, Joe Root and Harry Brook shared a mammoth partnership as Pakistan's bowlers toiled in the heat. They shared a record stand of 454, which is now England's highest-ever Test partnership.
Root and Brook surpassed a record set by Peter May and Colin Cowdrey back in 1957 and their partnership sits fourth on the all-time list. Both Root and Brook also recorded their highest Test scores, with the former overtaking Sir Alastair Cook to become England's all-time leading Test run scorer as he struck 262.
He also became the first Englishman to score over 20,000 international runs across all three formats. Brook, meanwhile, joined a unique club as he became just the sixth England player to score a triple century in Test cricket.
The 25-year-old will also be delighted to have finally surpassed his father David's highest score of 210 for their local village side Burley. "My highest score is 194 so beating my dad's best is in the back of my mind at the minute," he admitted last year. "I was only two years old when my dad made that!"
Brook was eventually dismissed for 317 by Saim Ayub, having made the fifth-highest Test score by an Englishman. And when stand-in captain Ollie Pope decided to declare on 823-7, it meant England had scored the fourth-highest Test total of all time, their highest total since 1938, the second-highest total by an away team and the highest score by a team in Pakistan.
Pakistan also picked up some unwanted records of their own, with six bowlers conceding more than 100 runs for the second time in Test history. And England carried their momentum into Pakistan's second innings, with Chris Woakes producing an absolute beauty to bowl Abdullah Shafique first ball.
Shafique had struck an impressive century in the first innings, but he was undone by a brilliant nip backer from Woakes that sent his stumps flying and left the opener looking "disgusted". BBC Test Match Special commentator Aatif Nawaz said: He didn't know too much about that, Abdullah Shafique.
"He is absolutely stunned and looks disgusted by the situation. He's waited and waited and waited for his turn to bat, but Chris Woakes has knocked over his off stump with the first ball."
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