England score 504 against Pakistan to break record of highest runs on Day 1 of Test Match
The Barmy Army is on a conquering spree. After being crowned the World Champions in the last edition of the ICC ODI World Cup and the recently concluded T20 World Cup, they continue the dream run in the longest version of the game.
Electing to bat after winning the toss against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, the English batters made clueless hosts chase leather as 4 of the 5 batsmen in the top order scored hundreds to end the day at 506/4 , tumbling all records that came in their path.
By the end of the day, not only they broke the 112 year old record of scoring maximum runs on the first day of a Test match, but also became the first team to score 500 runs in the opening day. It’s the first time ever that 4 batsmen scored hundreds in the opening day of a test match.
The magnitude of their domination can be concluded from the fact that 3 of the 4 centurions had a strike rate in excess of 100 and this is Day 1 of a Test Match we are talking about. The only respite for Pakistan came near the fag end of the day when play was called off due to bad light after 75 overs were bowled. England maintained a run-rate of 6.74 by the close of play on Day 1 , as they plummeted the Pakistan bowlers right from start. In a nutshell, the run-feast was a treat to watch.
Joe Root happened to be the only one who missed out after playing down the wrong line after a promising start. Ben Stokes was at the crease for 4 overs during which he made 36 runs in 15 balls with a strike rate of 226. None of the Pakistan bowlers were good enough to contain the ruthless English batsmen from the mayhem. Zahid Mahmood, one of the 4 debutants for Pakistan in this test match was the pick of the bowlers as he grabbed 2 wickets for 160 runs in the 23 overs he bowled.
