Virus-hit England stamped its aggressive brand of test cricket on its first test in Pakistan in 17 years by amassing a world record 506-4 with four batters smashing hundreds on Thursday.
After skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bat first, England’s opening pair of Zack Crawley and Ben Duckett gave them an incredible start as they put up a record-breaking partnership of 233 runs with both players scoring centuries. While Joe Root had a rare failure, the likes of Ollie Pope and Harry Brook continued the onslaught as the duo also registered tons in an incredible day for the Stokes-led side in which four players registered triple-figure scores.
England ended the day’s play with a score of 506/4 and became the first team in history to score more than 500 runs on the first day of a Test match. In the process, they broke Australia’s 112-year-old record for the most runs scored on the opening day of an international red-ball game. Australia were the long-standing holders of the record with a total of 494 runs against South Africa in 1910 at Sydney.
England’s tally of 506 is the fifth highest by a team in a single day of a Test match. England have beaten their own record where they put up a total of 588 against India in a Test at Manchester in 1936. In fact, England hold four of the five highest scores in the elusive list.
