MULTAN: Joe Root scored a majestic unconquered century after surpassing Alastair Cook as England’s top run-scorer in Test cricket, anchoring his team to 492-3 at stumps on the third day of the opening match against Pakistan on Wednesday.

Root began the day on 32 not out, needing a further 39 runs to eclipse Cook’s tally of 12,472, and the former captain eased to his target with an on-drive for four off Aamer Jamal before soaking up loud applause from the travelling English fans.

He then fought off cramps after lunch to bring up his 35th century with a reve­rse-sweep and looked poised to plunder more runs after cruising to 176 not out at the close, taking England within 64 runs of Pakistan’s first innings total of 556.

Fellow Yorkshireman Harry Brook followed his 108 at the same venue two years ago with a spectacular 141 not out off 173 balls; the pair adding 243 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket.

Root’s memorable 481-minute knock includes 12 boundaries. Brook amassed the same number and added a six despite suffering cramps.

Pakistan’s bowlers were unable to extract any help from the lifeless pitch at the Multan Cricket Stadium and were wrestled into submission by England, who had toiled on the first two days of the match.

Root also featured in two other century-stands with Ben Duckett (84) and Zak Crawley (78), who were the only wickets to fall in the first two sessions.

“It’s pretty cool being out there in the middle with him [Root],” Duckett said after sharing a 136-run partnership with Root. “One of the greats of the game and certainly greats of English cricket. He wouldn’t know he has achieved what he has achieved.”

Pakistan’s head coach Jason Gillespie said his team needed early wickets on Thursday.

“We suspected the way England will look to get a lead and have a crack at us,” he told reporters. “We have to come out in the morning and hit the ground running. If we can take a couple of wickets early and get into their all-rounders, we can build from there.

“We still have a ball that isn’t too old. Our [fast] bowlers haven’t had a heavy workload … they’ll come back ready to go, and we’ll try to crack it open tomorrow morning.”

However, both fast bowlers Naseem Shah (1-87) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (1-88) were ineffective after hardly finding any reverse swing with the old ball. Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed also couldn’t find any turn of the hard surface, which had some cracks, as England plundered the leggy for 0-174 off his 35 wicketless overs.

Resuming on 96-1, England lost the wicket of Crawley inside the first half hour when he chipped a catch of Shaheen after adding 14 runs to his overnight score of 64. Aaner pounced on the opportunity on a second attempt at short mid-wicket as Crawley tried to whip the fast bowler on the on-side.

That abruptly ended the 109-run stand for the second wicket but England were in no mood to slow down.

Duckett, who dislocated his left thumb while taking a catch and was unable to open on Tuesday, showed no signs of the issue as he took to the crease and smashed Abrar out of the attack temporarily with three boundaries in the 30th over.

The left-hander needed only 45 balls to bring up his half-century but Aamer trapped him lbw in the afternoon session to leave England on 249-3.

There would be no respite for Pakistan as Brook ensured the run rate did not drop below five an over at tea, with his breezy effort helping England post their third consecutive century stand of the innings.

To add to the hosts’ misery, Brook bizarrely survived a scare in the evening session when the ball hit the stumps after bouncing off his helmet grill and the bails did not fall off.

He quickly shrugged off that incident to complete his sixth ton — and fourth against Pakistan — off 118 balls with Pakistan captain Shan Masood running out of ideas to break the partnership.

Root survived two leg before wicket reviews in a patient knock of 277 balls. Naseem was mighty close to getting the England star batter lbw on 168 and Aamer went for unsuccessful television referral before Root had surpassed Cook’s run-tally in the first session.

Root has taken 268 innings and 147 Tests to go past his former captain Cook’s record from 161 Tests in a glorious career that ended in 2018.

The all-time list is headed by India’s Sachin Tendulkar with 15,921 runs from 200 matches.

Cook said of Root during BBC radio commentary that he could “see him over­hauling Sachin Tendulkar’s record”.

“I don’t see that happening for Root to lose that hunger and ability to keep driving himself forward for the next couple of years,” the former England opening batsman said.

Gillespie also singled out Root, whom he had coached during his time with Yorkshire, for praise.

“England played very well today, especially their batsmen,” he said. “Credit must be given to how they approached the innings. I have seen Root closely during my stint at Yorkshire. He always strives to improve and deliver better performances.”

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN (1st Innings) 556 (Shan Masood 151; J. Leach 3-160)

ENGLAND (1st Innings, overnight 96-1):

Z. Crawley c Aamer b Shaheen 78

O. Pope c Aamer b Naseem 0

J. Root not out 176

B. Duckett lbw b Aamer 84

H. Brook not out 141

EXTRAS (B-3, LB-3, NB-6, W-1) 13

TOTAL (for three wkts, 101 overs) 492

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-4 (Pope), 2-113 (Crawley), 3-249 (Duckett)

STILL TO BAT: J. Smith, C. Woakes, G. Atkinson, B. Carse, J. Leach, S. Bashir

BOWLING: Shaheen 19-1-88-1, Naseem 21-0-87-1 (1nb), Abrar 35-0-174-0 (2nb), Aamer 17-0-78-1 (1w, 3nb), Salman 6-0-40-0, Saim 1-0-5-0, Saud 2-0-14-0

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2024