ENG Vs PAK: Talking Points From England's Epic First Innings Ft. Joe Root And Harry Brook

After posting a first innings total of 556 runs, Pakistan were in an enviable position against England. Teams do lose after scoring 500-plus totals, but an innings defeat? It's yet to happen. (Scorecard | Cricket News)

With a full day's play left in the first Pakistan vs England Test, the hosts found themselves in dire straights. So what happened in Multan? Well, England happened!

Here are a few big talking points:

ENG vs PAK 1st Test Talking Points

34 Years In Making

Harry Brook played a sumptuous 322-ball knock for his maiden triple century (317). The 25-year-old hit 29 fours and three sixes to dominate Pakistan bowlers. The right-handed batter thus became England's first triple centurion in 34 years.

Earlier, Brook became the first-ever player to score centuries in four successive Test in Pakistan. In his first tour of Pakistan in 2022, the Yorkshireman scored 153 at Rawalpindi, 108 at Multan and 111 at Karachi.

Epic Stand

Joe Root batted with ease and compiled runs at a steady rate. But the former England captain needed a partner to defang the Pakistani attack. And he found one in Brook. Together, the No.3 and No.5 added 454 runs in 522 balls -- an English record, and fourth in the all-time list.

England's previous high was 411 by Colin Cowdrey and Peter May against the West Indies at Edgbaston in 1957. Sri Lankan pairs of Kumar Sangakkara-Mahela Jayawardene (624 vs South Africa in 2006) and Roshan Mahanama-Sanath Jayasuriya (576 vs India in 1997) occupy the two spots, followed by New Zealanders Andrew Jones and Martin Crowe who stitched 467 against Sri Lanka in 1991.

England's Highest Since WWII

In the history of Test cricket, an innings total of 800 runs or more has been posted only four times, in 2553 recorded matches, and three of those belong to England. But the last time England breached the 800-run mark was in 1938, just before the break out of World War II.

The highest innings score, however, belongs to Sri Lanka. In the first match of India's 1997 tour of Sri Lanka, they declared at 537/8 but Sanath Jayasuriya (340), Roshan Mahanama (225) and Aravinda de Silva (126) took Sri Lanka to the highest Test total of all time, thus forcing a draw at RPS, Colombo. Their total was 952/6, also declared.

England's two other 800-plus innings were: 903/7 against Australia at The Oval, London in 1938 and 849 against the West Indies Jamaica at Kingston, Jamaica in 1930.

Bowlers' Graveyard

Batting paradise invariably means hell for bowlers. Multan is one such place. In the first innings, as many as three Pakistan batters hit centuries and another one scored 82. Then England responded with a triple century and a double ton with a couple of fifties.

So, bowlers were reduced to second fiddle. None was spared. For the record, six bowlers -- Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Aamer Jamal, Salman Agha and Saim Ayub -- conceded more than 100 runs in the innings.

It has happened only once in the history of the game. Zimbabwean bowlers Douglas Hondo, Tinashe Panyangara, Tawanda Mupariwa, Mluleki Nkala, Elton Chigumbura and Stuart Matsikenyeri were taken for 100-plus runs by visiting Sri Lanka in 2004.

England vs Pakistan 1st Test Day 4

Powered by an epic Joe Root-Harry Brook stand, 454 for the fourth wicket, England produced arguably the greatest innings in Pakistan by a visiting team. They declared at 823/7 for a lead of 267 runs, then the bowlers took over.

The penultimate day's play ended with Pakistan at 152/6, still needing 116 runs to make England bat again. Agha Salman and Aamer Jamal returned unbeaten on 41 and 21, respectively, to set up an intriguing final day. They have added 70 runs for the seventh wicket.