Century in a session in Test Cricket: Century before lunch on Day 1 Test full list

England opening batter Zac Crawley has missed out becoming the seventh batter to score a century in the first session of a Test match. Had Crawley scored nine more runs in the morning session of the ongoing first Test match against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, he would’ve become the first English batter to achieve the milestone.

Crawley, who brought up his second Test half-century in his fifth match in Asia, was fluent as ever appearing to continue from where he had left off the last time he faced Pakistan in this format.

Taking strike against Pakistan fast bowler Naseem Shah, Crawley left the first ball outside the off-stump only to get off the mark with a boundary on the following delivery. Although Crawley’s first four of the match was a streaky one down to the third-man region, the right-handed batter followed it with two crispy cover drives in the same over to put on display attacking intentions.

Crawley, 24, didn’t care to look back since then finding eye-catching boundaries frequently. As a result, it was only a matter of time before Crawley registered a 38-ball half-century.

Crawley, who didn’t aim at slowing down, was quite right in his approach to play at a consistent pace because of the conditions on offer. With the surface at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium being downright flat, English openers made optimum use of the conditions to put together a an unbeaten 174-run partnership before lunch.

Playing a Test match after a six-year gap, Ben Duckett justified the team management’s decision to promote him as an opener by scoring a second Test half-century in the first session. Crawley, meanwhile, completed a third Test century off 86 balls (joint fourth fastest among English batters) right after the lunch break.

Century before lunch on Day 1

As far as scoring a Test century in a session is concerned, dozens of batters have been able to do the same over the years.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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