Team England beat Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Monday in one of the finest Tests in recent memory (December 5).
Both teams ran nonstop for five days. Ben Stokes’ squad did well to win despite the pitch in Rawalpindi favouring batters.
England batted first and immediately dominated the home bowlers. Zak Crawley (122), Ben Duckett (107), Ollie Pope (108) and Harry Brook all scored century in their 657-run total (153).
Pakistan batted carefully in their first innings to give England a 78-run first-innings lead. Abdullah Shafique (114), Imam-ul-Haq (121) and Babar Azam (136) all scored hundreds.
England scored 264/7 in 35.5 overs with less than six sessions remaining. Stokes declared England’s 4th-day innings with a 342-run lead.+
The pitch offered little for Stokes’ bowlers. The England bowlers had four sessions left to dismiss Pakistan. In the fourth innings, the hosts had a chance to win by chasing 343 runs.
Pakistan lost. Pakistan were bowled out for 268 in 96.3 overs, giving England one of its finest away Test triumphs. After 22 years, England won a red-ball match in Pakistan.
Pakistan and England’s first Test broke and set many records. Here are seven Rawalpindi Test records.
#1 The match scored the most runs ever in a five-day Test.
The Rawalpindi Test saw the most runs scored in four combined innings.
England scored 921 runs in two innings and Pakistan scored 847 runs in two innings.
Only England-South Africa in 1939 and England-West Indies in 1930 scored higher.
England and Australia had the previous highest five-day total in 1969. Both teams ran 1764 times in five days.
#2 First team to score 500+ on first day
On Day 1 of the first Test against Pakistan, England scored 506/4 in 75 overs. First time a cricket team reached 500 runs on the first day of a Test.
England scored at a 6.75 run rate on day one of a Test, which was a record.
#3 First test with two opening double-centuries
Both England and Pakistan’s openers enjoyed Rawalpindi’s batting-friendly surface. Both sides’ opening pair reached 200 in the Test.
In England’s first innings, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett scored 233 runs, while Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq scored 225.
This was the first Test with two 200-run opening partnerships.
#4 England’s most runs in an over
Harry Brook smashed 27 runs off a Zahid Mohammad over in the third innings of the contest, taking a toll on the Pakistani spinners.
Brook broke his own record when he struck six consecutive fours to score 24 runs off Saud Shakeel’s over three days earlier.
#5 Highest single-inning team run-rate (min 250 runs)
England scored 264 runs at a 7.36 run-rate on Day 4 to win the game.
England’s 7.36 run-rate is the best in a Test match when a side has scored more than 250 runs.
When South Africa reached 340/3 in 50 overs against Zimbabwe in 2005, England eclipsed their 6.80 run-rate.
#6 Most runs on Test debut
Zahid Mahmood’s Test debut wasn’t great despite his six wickets.
The 34-year-old became the bowler who surrendered the most runs in a Test debut innings. In his first Test innings, Mahmood allowed 235 runs.
Suraj Randiv gave away 222 runs in his Test debut against India in 2010.
#7 First team to average a run-a-ball in both Test innings
England is the first side to score at or above a run-a-ball (6 runs per over) rate in both innings in a Test match.
England’s run rates against Pakistan were 6.5 and 7.3.
