Stunning start: Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)The drama of the day started before a ball was even bowled, as at 7:30am local time it was confirmed that the game would go ahead as planned after a virus that had swept through the England camp had threatened to postpone the start of proceedings for 24 hours.
England were, however, forced into one change as wicketkeeper Ben Foakes was deemed not fit enough to play and was replaced in the XI by debutant Will Jacks. With Foakes absent, it was left to Ollie Pope to take the gloves for just the second time in 31 appearances.
But for all of the uncertainty that accompanied this fixture in the build-up, England put together one of the most astonishing opening sessions in Test history as Crawley and Duckett struck 28 boundaries between them in 27 overs to take England to 174 without loss at lunch. It is the most runs that any team has scored before lunch on day one in the history of Test cricket.
It would be knit-picking to suggest that either Crawley or Duckett looked in the better touch. Where Crawley drove, pulled and clipped the seamers confidently as he went to the lunch break unbeaten on 91 off just 79 balls, Duckett swept Pakistan’s debutant spinner Zahid Mahmood to the point of mercy as he finished the session on 77 off 85.
Pakistan were rattled. An inexperienced team, missing their talisman seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi and boasting four debutants, they looked towards their 19-year-old Naseem Shah to lead the way.
Shah, however, would see his opening over of the match go for 14 runs as Crawley would strike three boundaries. Two of which were driven confidently down the ground. And when Duckett, playing his first Test in six years, struck his first ball for four, England were on a scarcely believable 18-0 off just seven deliveries.
However, the frantic start by England would prove to be the rule and not the exception of the opening two hours. Boundaries flew in all directions as England went to 40 off six overs and 63 off the opening ten. Crawley’s seventh half-century in Test cricket arrived in just 38 balls.
There was some cause for excitement for Pakistan when Haris Rauf, one of the fastest bowlers in the world, came into the attack for the first time on debut, but even he couldn’t provide a breakthrough as England continued their early morning Rawalpindi demolition job.
And no bowler suffered greater punishment than the 34-year-old debutant Mahmood. His first over to Duckett saw the left-hander sweep the legspinner on four occasions. Two of which flew to the boundary, one of which was a fantastic reverse sweep. After five overs, Mahmood’s figures read 0-40.
England would finish the session having galloped along at almost six-and-a-half an over, with the most worrying sign for Pakistan being that they show no sign of slowing down.
