Stats: England smash 506 on Day 1 of the opening Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi

Bazzball arrived in Pakistan in some fashion as England, under coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes, slammed 506/4 in just 75 overs on the first day of the opening Test match against Pakistan in Rawalpindi. With this, the visitors became the first team to post over 500 runs on the first day of a game. Four of the top five English batters struck centuries as the hosts suffered a hammering on a flat Pindi pitch. Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Harry Brook reached their respective milestones to script a historic day for their side.

With several players from the English camp being unwell a day before, there was doubt over the commencement of the Test on its scheduled day. But the game finally went ahead and captain Stokes won the toss and opted to bat first. On a lifeless track and against an inexperienced bowling attack, Crawley and Duckett made full use of it to stitch a mammoth 233 opening stand for the visitors. The former got dismissed for 122 while Duckett registered his maiden ton (107). Notably, Pakistan’s toothless bowling attack included three debutants in pacers Haris Rauf and Mohammad Ali, and legspinner Zahid Mahmood.

Pope amassed a fluent and eye-catching 108 off just 104 which included 14 fours while Brook, who also smacked Saud Shakeel for six fours in an over, remained unbeaten on 101 off 81 with the help of 14 fours and two maximums. Joe Root was the only player not reaching the 30-run mark as he got out for 23. Later on in the day, captain Stokes also joined the party to remain not out on 34 off 15. Several records tumbled as England played in the T20 mode and made the Pakistan bowlers toil hard. A relentless attack from the four right-handed batters meant the tourists achieved a daunting total of above 500 on the first day, a new world record.

Meanwhile, let’s take a look at some of the records created by England against Pakistan on Day 1 of the Rawalpindi Test:

1 – England became the first side to score 500 runs (506/4) on Day one of a Test. Previously, Australia managed to post 494 against South Africa 112 years back in Sydney in 1910.

3 – Harry Brook recorded the third-fastest century for England in 80 deliveries in the longest format of the game. Gilbert Jessop (76 balls against Australia in 1902) and Jonny Bairstow (77 balls against New Zealand in 2022) are in the top two positions.

5 – Brook became the fifth player to smash six fours in an over in Tests. He achieved the feat against debutant Saud Shakeel in the 68th over. The four other batters to grab the milestone are Sandeep Patil against Bob Willis in 1982, Chris Gayle against Matthew Hoggard in 2004, Ramnaresh Sarwan against Munaf Patel in 2006, and Sanath Jayasuriya off the bowling of James Anderson in 2007.

1 – For the first time, four players scripted centuries on the opening day of a match.

82 – England registered the joint second-fastest team hundred in just 82 deliveries since the year 2001. Bangladesh also managed to post 100 in as many balls against West Indies in 2012. Sri Lanka tops the chart for reaching the three-figure mark in 80 balls against Bangladesh in 2001.

233 – Duckett and Crawley achieved the highest opening stand of 233 for England in Tests in Asia. They went past Bob Barber and Geoff Pullar’s tally of 198 against Pakistan in Dhaka in 1962.

6.53 – Crawley and Duckett recorded the highest run rate of 6.53 for a 200-plus opening partnership in Tests. Previously, Australia’s pair of David Warner and Joe Burns played out with a run rate of 6.29 against New Zealand in 2015.

1 – For the first time, both English openers smacked half-centuries in under 50 deliveries in the same innings.

6 – For the sixth time in the history of Test cricket, four of the top five batters struck centuries in an innings. The previous five instances were Pakistan against Bangladesh in 2001, India against the Bangla Tigers in 2007, Australia against West Indies in 2015, South Africa against Bangladesh in 2017, and Pakistan against Sri Lanka in 2019.