England vs Pakistan: Masterful Joe Root makes history as visitors dominate day three in Multan

Joe Root hit a brilliant unbeaten century to become England’s leading Test run-scorer on day three of the first Test in Multan.

Root (176no) brought up his milestone with a four off Pakistan’s quick Aamer Jamal (1-78), surpassing Sir Alastair Cook’s record of 12,472 runs.

The 33-year-old also notched his 35th Test century to slash Pakistan’s lead from an imposing 460 at the start of play to a far less demanding 64 at stumps.

Root shared a masterful unbroken partnership worth 243-runs with fellow Yorkshireman Harry Brook (141no), who brought up his sixth Test century and fourth against Pakistan, to help England close on 492-3.

It was England’s highest fourth-wicket partnership against Pakistan. The previous was between Paul Collingwood and Cook at Lord’s in 2006.

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“I’m tired, more than anything. It’s been a long day,” Root said at England’s team hotel having been unable to speak to the media at the close due to exhaustion and dehydration.

“Obviously, proud but still feel there’s plenty more left to do and many more runs to get. I’m sure I’ll look back at it at some point when I’m finished and be very proud of it.”

The Multan wicket forced Pakistan to toil hard for little reward with Zak Crawley (78) departing early in the morning session off Shaheen Shah Afridi (1-88), and Ben Duckett (84), who came in at No 4 after dislocating his thumb at the end of day two, the only other England batter to depart.

Remarkably, the ball hit Brook’s stumps after ricocheting off his chest without dislodging the bails in the 76th over granting him an extra life, and despite cramping up in the hot and humid conditions, the 25-year-old still managed to tally 12 boundaries and one six during his 173-ball outing.

Naseem Shah (1-87) hit Root on his pads late in the evening session but on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena ruled it was not out and ball-tracking showed it was clipping the bails on review, adding to Pakistan’s agonising day in the field with the England record-breaker hobbling for runs in the final moments of day three.

Root and Brook help England dominate

Crawley began day three positively carving Afridi’s third ball through the covers for four. However, he was unable to build extensively on his overnight score of 64 after he flicked the Pakistan quick to Jamal at midwicket.

Duckett and Root shared a brilliant 136-run partnership for England’s third wicket as the hosts toiled hard on a desperately flat wicket that offered little promise and no lateral movement.

The England pair shared 15 boundaries, 11 of which came from Duckett’s bat, as they brought up England’s 200 inside 40 overs.

Pakistan’s pace bowler Jamal convinced his skipper to use two reviews in the space of three overs thinking he had Duckett caught behind and Root trapped lbw, both of which were wrong, as the England duo guided their side to lunch safely.

After the break, Jamal successfully trapped Duckett leg-before coming around the wicket for a much-needed breakthrough which left England 249-3.

Root batted with epic fluency, though – a huge contrast to his previous tour to Pakistan in 2022 when he made scores of 23, 73, 8, 21 and 0 – as he surpassed Cook’s record with an immaculate classic cover drive for four.

For the most part, the right-hander batted in orthodox fashion hitting a total of 12 boundaries but was pinned in front by Jamal after missing a left-handed sweep, and to add to Pakistan’s increasing frustration, the ball struck his pad outside the line.

Brook, who collected three centuries two years ago against Pakistan on his debut tour, joined Root at the crease and looked in as good touch as he did in 2022.

He arrived at the crease with England trailing by 303 runs and batted with ingenuity to guide the tourists to 492-3.

Brook and Root both cramped up on multiple occasions in the evening session, calling on drinks and the physiotherapist every few overs and hobbling between the wicket in the final moments of the game, but crucially remained unbeaten at the end of play.

Under the Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes era, England have conceded 500 twice and won both times. The first was against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in 2022 and the second was during their previous trip to Pakistan two years ago at Rawalpindi.

In recent times, Pakistan have faltered during the second innings in Test cricket.

During Bangladesh’s historic Test win over Shan Masood’s side in September, they scored 274 in their first innings before dipping to just 172 in the second, a point of concern for the hosts, but one that England will look to capitalise on as they close in on a lead.

Hussain: Incredible day for England

Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain praised England for their incredible batting performance on day three as the tourists eye up a potential victory in the first Test.

“It’s incredible the day England have had. They’ve put themselves in a position where they can put the opposition under pressure in the last two days,” Hussain said.

“I think they’ll just carry on batting. Those bowlers up there, I’ve played with some bowlers that would have absolutely loved today. They’ll just put their feet up, the likes of [Gus] Atkinson, [Brydon] Carse, [Chris] Woakes – a day off, completely.

“We’ve had Stuart Broad in our commentary box, he used to love days like this. Just a day off to rest the body. Maybe two more sessions off, where they may have to do a little bit of batting themselves, and then they go again.

“Then they’re in a position where they can’t lose the game. So all eyes will be on that third innings, but it could not have gone any better for England today.”

‘Amazing and incredible’ – Trescothick pays tribute to Root

“It’s amazing. To think we’re lucky enough to sit and watch history being made as the man goes on to become England’s leading run-scorer – incredible,” said England men’s Test batting coach Marcus Trescothick.

“The way he goes about it, the work he puts in and continues to strive for greatness all the time. He’s been superb and will continue to be superb for a number of years yet.”

Duckett: I will play through the pain

“I am alright, to be honest. I would have certainly taken that last night when it happened,” said Ben Duckett on Sky Sports Cricket.

“I did that exact same thumb a couple of years ago and it looked identical. When that happens and you have fielded for 150 overs and you are expected to go bat, it isn’t ideal.

“I knew it was dislocated and when it went back in it felt clear there was no break.

“When I went in the net this morning, the first thing I did was sweep and reverse sweep just to see if I could and it was alright.”

First Test: Multan – October 7-11

Second Test: Multan – October 15-19

Third Test: Rawalpindi – October 24-28

Every match from the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup is also live on Sky Sports from October 3-20 with Australia aiming for a third straight title and seventh overall, and England seeking to triumph for the first time since the inaugural edition in 2009.

Watch day four of the first Test between Pakistan and England in Multan, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 5.50am on Thursday, ahead of play starting from 6am. Stream with NOW

Fabio Wardley’s huge rematch with Frazer Clarke is on the epic Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol bill on Saturday October 12 live on Sky Sports Box Office. Book Wardley v Clarke 2 and Beterbiev v Bivol now!