Stumps England 492 for 3 (Root 176*, Brook 141*, Duckett 84, Crawley 78, Jamal 1-78) trail Pakistan 556 by 64 runs
Responding to Pakistan’s mammoth first-innings score of 556 after the best part of two days in the dirt was always going to require something special from England. Not only did they respond emphatically to end day three of this first Test on 492 for 3, trailing by just 64, but they did so in historic fashion.
As it happens, this is Root’s first on these shores. And it has come after spending all day at the crease – he was the last England batter to achieve that feat, against Sri Lanka in Galle three years ago – meaning he has been absent for just eight deliveries of the 250 overs of this match so far.
No wonder he struggled with cramps for the last half of the day. Having come to the crease on Tuesday following the dismissal of stand-in skipper Ollie Pope with just four on the board, resuming on Wednesday with England 96 for 1, he will mark his guard with 176 against his name on Thursday morning with his side holding all the aces.
As it has been for most of the last 12 years in English cricket, Root was the glue throughout. Starting day three with 32 to his name, he made the final ascent to the top of the England run-scorers’ pile 15 minutes before lunch when, on 67, he leaned into another compact drive for four to march along to 12,473 career runs, overtaking Cook as England’s most prolific Test batter, and the fifth overall, behind only Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid.
Root was always going to mark the occasion with three figures, especially on a pitch that remains interminably dull, with just two wickets falling all day, and none in the final session. He moved to a crisp 100 with a reverse sweep off his 167th ball for a fifth century in 2024. It was the third time he has struck as many in a calendar year, after 2021 and 2022. Only Ricky Ponting (four) and Matthew Hayden (four) scored five or more Test centuries in more calendar years.
Either way, Crawley was gone for his sixth score between 60 and 80 this year. Duckett strode in at No. 4 and motored on, showing no ill-effects from a thumb injury that prevented him from opening the batting. He had one life on 37, when Naseem Shah found his outside edge only for the ball to bisect keeper and a wide first slip. But with the ball reversing enough for Jamal to trap the left-hand batter on the crease from around the wicket, Duckett was dismissed for the fourth time between 70 and 90 since his third Test hundred back in February, against India in Rajkot.
Brook, however, naturally assumed the mantle of aggressor immediately upon his arrival with the score 249 for 3. It was on the previous Pakistan tour that Brook announced himself to the world with 468 runs at 93.60, with centuries in all three Tests. A guided four to third from his second delivery showed he was back to inflict more upon the hosts two years on.
Despite a hint of reverse swing on offer – first with Jamal, then Afridi – Brook’s speed out of the blocks could not be tempered. Afridi felt the full force of that when a short delivery was smashed back down the ground like a tennis forehand for the first of consecutive boundaries. Brook made it to his half-century in 49 deliveries, his fifth 50-plus score in six innings against Pakistan.
Brook’s next fifty took a little longer – 69 balls – in part because the field was spread, the bowling lines negative, and his own battles with cramp, which meant neither he nor Root could push for singles or fully commit to attacking strokes that required extra stretching. But having consumed plenty of gels and isotonic drinks, he struck Abrar down the ground in the 83rd over for the first six of the innings, which took him to 98. A misfield for two cut to point brought up his sixth career century.
He could have been on his way back on 75 when a block off the impressive Jamal – comfortably the pick of the bowlers – ricocheted off his grille and rolled on to his stumps without dislodging the bails. Root, similarly, could have been seen off on 168 had umpire Kumar Dharmasena raised the finger following a strong lbw shout from Naseem, after rare seam movement pinned the batter in front with the second new ball. Shan Masood opted to use Pakistan’s last review to double-check, which was retained after DRS came back with an umpire’s call on the impact into leg stump.
It summed up a torturous time for Pakistan, who conceded 4.83 an over across today’s 82 overs, watching on powerlessly as their opening effort was made to feel under par. With a night’s rest for Root and Brook, and Jamie Smith waiting in the wings, a first innings lead of note feels inevitable.
Vithushan Ehantharajah is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
