Defending champions in both the white-ball formats, England approaching Test cricket in the same aggressive manner shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. That being said, one is bound to experience astonishment when any team breaks a 112-year old record of scoring most runs on the first day of a Test match.
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England captain Ben Stokes (34*) winning the toss and opting to bat was primarily done to give his bowlers more time to recover from a virus which had affected multiple players yesterday.
At that point in time, less did anyone think that the English batters would make a mockery of both a flat Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium pitch and a listless Pakistani bowling attack.
One of the four centurions for the visitors today, Harry Brook also became only the fourth batter in the history of Test cricket to hit six fours in an over. Batting on 60*, Brook spoiled Pakistan debutant batter Saud Shakeel’s second over in the format on the back of hitting six fours off as many balls.
Shakeel, who was left confused with respect to which length to bowl, dropped short on four occasions in a forgettable over only to be pulled thrice and punched once by the right-handed batter. The left-arm spinner also erred to bowl too full only to see Brook driving him through the covers and down the ground to make the most of batting-friendly conditions on offer.
Shakeel’s over played a pivotal role in propelling Brook to an 80-ball century in the third session. In the process, the 23-year old batter ended up registering the third-fastest Test century for an English batter. Set to resume his innings from 101* tomorrow, Brook will be looking to convert a maiden Test hundred into a quintessential daddy hundred.
6 fours in an over in Test cricket
| Batter | Bowler | Team | Opposition | Venue | Year |
| Chris Gayle | Matthew Hoggard | West Indies | England | The Oval | 2004 |
| Ramnaresh Sarwan | Munaf Patel | West Indies | India | Warner Park | 2006 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya | James Anderson | Sri Lanka | England | Asgiriya Stadium | 2007 |
| Harry Brook | Saud Shakeel | England | Pakistan | Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium | 2022 |
