Harry Brook elevated himself above the flat Rawalpindi pitch to sprinkle yet more of his stardust across the record books.
In a dressing room full of players trying to push the envelope as to what is possible in Test cricket, Brook has elbowed his way to the front of the queue in just his second match. On day two and with a hundred already to his name, his record-breaking antics saw him take ownership of the fastest 150 scored by an England player off his skipper Ben Stokes with his 115 balls beating the captain’s 135 in Cape Town.
And less than 24 hours after hitting an English record 24 runs from a single over, he set a new benchmark with 27 fittingly coming from Zehid Mahmood’s 27th over. Brook eventually fell from the next ball after getting to 153, the 116th ball he faced, and it brought the curtain down on a performance that should be difficult to live up to, but one suspects may become the norm for a player so comfortable at this level.
“I didn’t know that he had that record,” admitted Brook. “But obviously it is a nice feeling to have it and a dream come true to play and score a hundred.
“One of the things Stokesy said this morning was that we had broken some records yesterday, let’s try and break some more today. I’m a naturally aggressive player so I’m always going to try and take the bowlers on, so as I got closer to the record for one over, my eyes lit up.”
In a match where so many players have cashed in on the overly friendly batting surface, it takes something special to stand out in the crowd, but that is exactly what Brook did as part of an epic total of 657 all out.
Brook has played just twice, while this is Zahid’s very first Test, and already they are both in the record books, albeit for very different reasons with Zahid’s 4-235 the most expensive figures for a bowler on debut.
If day one was about clean, crisp, authentic cricket shots, then day two was about an all out assault, as epitomised by Stokes hitting the first ball he faced of the day for a towering straight six. Liam Livingstone hit the seventh ball he faced in Test cricket over the ropes while both Will Jacks with 30 and Ollie Robinson with 37 batted with gusto in their partnership of 65 in 70 balls.
In response Pakistan’s openers made an ideal start with Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq seeing their side to the close without loss, although their 181-0 was scored precisely half as slowly as England batted throughout their innings.
It gave England’s bowlers and fielders a glimpse into how cricket in this part of the world is usually played with two and a bit sessions in the dirt and with the promise of lots more to come.
That is largely down to the surface rather than anything else, although England did see chances go begging, one gilt-edged, and two rather more fanciful. Ollie Pope dropped a feather edge off Jack Leach to give Imam a life on 11, while a dive down the legside was barely a half chance. Ben Foakes, would likely have taken the first though.
Livingstone didn’t get the chance to turn his arm over after jarring his left knee in the field and going off. He is expected to be fine later in the match while Keaton Jennings is happy to deputise at short leg.
