Brook's 317 leads record-breaking England towards victory

Harry Brook and Joe Root batted together for more than 86 overs

First Test, Multan (day four of five)

Pakistan 556: Masood 151 & 152-6: Atkinson 2-28

England 823-7 dec: Brook 317, Root 262

Pakistan trail by 115 runs

Scorecard

Harry Brook became the first England batter for 34 years to hit a triple-century in Test cricket on an astonishing fourth day against Pakistan in Multan.

Brook, Joe Root and England broke a host of records, then the visiting pace bowlers were irresistible in charging to what looks like certain victory in the first Test.

Brook’s 317 is the sixth score in excess of 300 by an England man and his partnership of 454 with Root, who made 262, was the fourth-highest for any wicket in the history of the game.

A total of 823-7 declared is also the fourth-highest ever and England’s largest since 1938.

It meant England took a lead of 267, a barely believable advantage considering Pakistan posted 556 in their first innings.

Despite the avalanche of runs on the flat pitch, Chris Woakes knocked out the off stump of Abdullah Shafique with the first ball of Pakistan’s second innings.

England were rampant, Pakistan feeble. The hosts disintegrated after tea, spiralling towards a humiliating defeat on 152-6, still 115 short of making England bat again.

Never before has a team posted so many runs in the first innings of a Test, then gone on to lose by an innings.

England, who secured a historic 3-0 victory in Pakistan two years ago, will add another memorable win at some point on Friday.

Multan madness - the records that fell

• Brook became the sixth English batter to score a triple century and first since 1990. It was the second-fastest 300 of all time, reached in 310 deliveries.

• The 454 that Root and Brook added for the fourth-wicket is England’s highest partnership for any wicket, the fourth-highest in all Test cricket and best for the fourth-wicket.

• Root’s double century was his sixth in Test cricket, only Wally Hammond, on seven, has more for England.

• This was only the third instance in Test history that two batters passed 250 in the same innings and the first occasion for England.

• England’s 823-7 declared is the fourth-highest team total in Test cricket and England’s highest since 903-7 declared against Australia at The Oval in 1938.

• England’s lead of 267 runs is the most for any team in Test history after conceding a total in excess of 550 in the first innings of a match.

Brilliant Brook’s place in history

By any measure, this was an incredible day of Test cricket, one that broke new ground and challenged other landmarks that have stood for decades.

Even on a pitch that has been abnormally flat for the best part of four days, and against a toothless Pakistan attack missing ill spinner Abrar Ahmed, the runs scored by Brook, Root and England were extraordinary.

The tourists gave themselves the advantage by moving to 492-3 on day three, when Root became England’s all-time leading Test run-scorer.

Root had added 10 to his overnight 176 when he drilled Naseem Shah to mid-wicket, where Babar Azam shelled a simple catch. From there, Pakistan fell apart, England scored at will and the prospect of a rare triple-century quickly became a reality.

Brook, resuming on 141, went past his previous highest Test score of 186. A top-edge off Aamer Jamal just evaded the square leg fielder and, from the next ball, a Brook pull took the stand past England’s previous best partnership of 411 between greats Colin Cowdrey and Peter May in 1957.

Root found another best in his record-laden career, beating his previous highest score of 254. After 10 hours at the crease, he was eventually beaten by an off-break that Salman Agha got to keep low.

Brook went on and on, toying with the bowling using both classical and unorthodox strokes: cover drives, ramps, flicks and use of the feet. Pakistan became a rabble, beset by misfields and overthrows, while six home bowlers conceded more than 100 runs.

Only eight overs were needed to add 79 with Jamie Smith. Brook went from 250 to 300 in just 29 balls, a holy grail of batting achievements reached thanks to a straight four off Saim Ayub.

It was the 32nd instance of a triple century in Test cricket, which Brook celebrated with a salute to the dressing room and a look to the sky.

The 25-year-old seemed set to challenge Sir Len Hutton’s 364, the highest score by an England batter, until he top-edged a sweep off Ayub. He left owning the fifth-highest score by an Englishman.

Still England were not done, becoming the fourth team to pass 800 before captain Ollie Pope decided enough was enough just before tea.

Bowlers push England towards victory

The pitch currently has a PitchViz rating of 2.9 which makes it the eighth-flattest pitch for the first four days of a Test in the ball-tracking era

While Brook and Root were punishing Pakistan, there was the temptation to wonder whether or not their exploits would ultimately be in vain.

Given the surface, it felt like it might still be a challenge for England to dismiss Pakistan for a second time.

But Pakistan, winless in 10 matches at home, are brittle and the pitch, out of nowhere, woke from its slumber. The notion of an England victory went from being in the balance to possible by the end of the day.

Woakes produced the sensational start, finding a crack for the ball to keep low and nip back. Shafique could not believe his off stump was left lying on the ground.

Pakistan captain Shan Masood was dropped twice, by Woakes off Gus Atkinson, then by Atkinson off Woakes, leaving Atkinson to find a leading edge that Zak Crawley pouched on the leg side.

The hosts were caught between hitting themselves out of trouble and digging in. Atkinson produced a beauty to take the edge of Babar and, from the next ball, Ayub criminally miscued Brydon Carse for Ben Duckett to take a fine catch running back at mid-off.

Mohammad Rizwan had his stumps splattered by Carse and Abrar was absent from the ground, yet the prospect of a four-day finish literally slipped through England’s fingers.

Brook can be excused for his flying drop of Jamal at gully, but Shoaib Bashir’s miss of the same man at long leg was a dolly.

Jamal remains on 27, Salman has 41, making England wait for a third successive win in Tests when they have conceded a total in excess of 500.

'Root's brilliance laid platform'

Ex-England fast bowler Steven Finn on Test Match Special: "Joe Root ran so much today. He did the really difficult job building those partnerships with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, promoted up to number three where he doesn't ideally like batting.

"He had to do a lot of work in the early parts to negate Pakistan.

"Whenever Pakistan's energy went up, Root sucked the energy out of them and he earned the right to score those runs and laid the way for Harry Brook to go on and play that innings.

"It was a wonderful lesson in sub-continental technique, concentration and skill. It's befitting he went past Sir Alastair Cook in that innings as well."

England batter Joe Root: "It's been a phenomenal couple of days from the team. That last session was a huge feat.

"To take 10 wickets on a pitch like that and then put ourselves in a position where we have a real chance to win the game tomorrow is a testament to the work ethic of the group and our ability to exploit the conditions."