Root Takes England to Lead with Solid Double Century in First Test Against Pakistan
In the ongoing first Test of the three-match series against Pakistan in Multan, England’s Joe Root put on an impressive show with the bat on Day 4, completing his double-century in 305 deliveries. The right-handed batter achieved the milestone when he took a single off Agha Salman in the 100th over of England’s first innings.
This remarkable performance marks Root’s sixth double hundred in Tests, leaving him as the second-most successful England player, behind Wally Hammond. The batter has now achieved 211 runs off 317 balls at a strike rate of 67, and is closing in on surpassing Sir Don Bradman’s position in the list of most double tons in Tests. Notably, only Don Bradman, Kumar Sangakkara, and Brian Lara have more double centuries in the format.
Alongside Root, his teammate Harry Brook played a crucial role in building a marathon 300-plus partnership for the fourth wicket. Their brilliant performance helped England take the lead against Pakistan in the first Test.
Besides Root’s double-century, he achieved another incredible milestone on Day 3 of the match by surpassing Sir Alastair Cook to become the England player with the most runs in Test cricket history. Moreover, he scored his 35th Test century, going past former Indian captain, Sunil Gavaskar.
England was leading by 5 runs with a score of 561/3 after 114 overs when the writing was published. Alongside Root and Brook were Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, who contributed 78 and 84 runs respectively.
This impressive performance comes after Pakistan batted first, scoring 556 runs in their first innings. Shan Masood top scored for Pakistan, with a brilliant 151 runs off 177 deliveries, followed by Agha Salman and Abdullah Shafique, who scored 104* and 102 runs respectively.
With the current performance, Pakistan is in for a tough competition in the match. While they are lagging behind England in runs currently, Pakistan cricket fans can hope for a strong comeback from their team.
The Test match series between Pakistan and England has witnessed quite a dramatic, competitive, and edge-of-your-seat display of cricket. There’s been strong and outstanding batting as seen in Root’s case and partnership with Brook which left England in the commanding position.
