Brook's 317 turns tide against Pak

MULTAN:

Salman Ali Agha's and Aamir Jamal's stable batting towards the end of the day ensured another day's play for the first Test between Pakistan and England at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

Salman's crucial 41* on 49 deliveries and Jamal's 27* on 48 balls took Pakistan to 152/6 at the end of the day's play. The home team now trails 115 runs behind England's total of the first innings.

Initiating the second innings, Pakistani batters were put into extreme trouble with the English bowlers bamboozling the home side.

Within 20 overs, Pakistan had lost half of their wickets including skipper Shan Masood who could only score 11 runs after his first innings heroics.

Severe trouble landed for Pakistan on the first ball of the inning on which Abdullah Safique was dismissed for a golden duck against veteran Chris Woakes.

Later on, wickets of Babar Azam, Saim Ayub and Mohammad Rizwan toppled in the next few overs, leaving Pakistan at 59/5.

Things somewhat settled for Pakistan while Salman Ali Agha and Saud Shakeel were batting but it again went downhill for Pakistan when Shakeel fell in the 24.2 over.

Earlier, England declared their first innings at a mammoth 823-7 before tea on the fourth day of the opening Test against Pakistan on Thursday for a lead of 267 runs.

Harry Brook notched up a superb 317 with a triple century and Joe Root hit 262 as both batsmen made their highest Test scores on the flat wicket at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Resuming their innings from 492-3 on the fourth day of the first Test, Root and Brook overhauled Pakistan's 556-run total by reaching 658-3 at lunch.

The visitors built a first innings lead of 102 runs with Root on 259 not out and Brook unbeaten on 218. The score marks the highest Test score for both batsmen.

Both players took their fourth-wicket partnership to 409 off 488 deliveries at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Meanwhile, the Shan Masood-led line-up faced a setback as the team's leg-spinner Abrar Ahmad didn't come out on the field due to fever.

The spinner has so far been wicketless in his 35 overs where he conceded 174 runs.

Furthermore, the team also missed out on dismissing Root as Babar Azam dropped a sitter as the right-handed batter attempted a pull shot on the leg side off Naseem Shah's bowling.

Starting out at 32*, Root surpassed his former teammate and skipper Alastair Cook's tally of 12,472 as he continued to demonstrate his prowess on the field a day earlier.

Root also became the first batsman from his country to make 20,000 international runs in the morning session with a driven boundary.

In reaching the milestone, Root went past Cook again with only Wally Hammond ahead of him in England's list with seven double tons.

Brook then became the latest member of the club to delight the travelling English fans, who stayed on their feet to cheer when Root eased to his 250 with a scooped boundary in the same over bowled by Shah. Television replays showed the ball had struck Root's pads but the 33-year-old did not complain and went on to better his previous best of 254.

The spinner has so far been wicketless in his 35 overs where he conceded 174 runs.