Key events
122nd over: England 606-3 (Root 232, Brook 194) Pakistan enquire/plead for a catch behind when Brook is beaten by Shaheen. Shan Masood considers a review before deciding against it. Nothing on UltraEdge.
“Two double tons in the same innings,” says Showbiz Guru. “Would that be historic?”
Foxy and Gatt would like a word. The Chennai Test of 1984-85 is the only time it has happened for England. I’d have to check but I think there have been 19 instances in men’s Tests, most recently when Sri Lanka played Ireland at Galle last year.
121st over: England 605-3 (Root 232, Brook 193) Brook whack-sweeps Salman round the corner for four, despite a sprawling attempt from Shaheen Afridi. If I was thinkng about setting up a new T20 franchise league, I’d get in touch with Shaheen tonight because after bowling on this pitch he’d surely sign a 10-year contract to be the global ambassador for the Orkney Cricket League.
A wide brings up England’s 600 and they take 12 from the over with the minimum of fuss. I was going to say without breaking sweat but, well.
“These two only need another 56 to beat the record for England’s highest Test partnership,” says Mike Jakeman. “It’s a great opportunity…”
The symbolism would be nice, too, given the story of Peter May and Colin Cowdrey’s record stand. Chalk, meet cheese.
120th over: England 593-3 (Root 228, Brook 187) Brook works Shaheen for a single to move to 187, his highest Test score. Easy to forget, because so much happened afterwards, just how breathtakingly he played when he made 186 against New Zealand.
119th over: England 588-3 (Root 224, Brook 186) Brook makes room outside leg stump, a lot of room, to blast Salman through the covers for four. It’s easy to take such shots for granted but it really is remarkable batting, especially as he must be moisture personified after batting for so long in that heat. The usual ones and twos, the main cause of that moisture, make it 10 from the over. Brook has now equalled his highest Test score.
“Declare and try to bowl out Pakistan is not going to appeal when one looks at the pitch,” says Krishnamoorthy V. “So might as well let Root chase the 402 not out. The way things are going Brook might reach the 400 before Root.”
Not sure England would be into that sorta thing. And, rightly or wrongly, they will definitely think they can win this match. I reckon they’ve a serious chance of doing so if they keep batting for at least another two hours. There are still five-and-a-half sessions left in the game!
118th over: England 578-3 (Root 223, Brook 176) Saim Ayub comes on for an over and is milked for four singles. It looks like Salman Agha wants to change ends.
“It occurred to me that if Joe Root was a fictional character any half decent editor would dismiss the manuscript as being too outlandish,” says Phil Withall. “He really is such an incredible cricketer/person/demigod.”
Yeah, nice guys finish last and all that. I wrote this when he emerged in 2012-13 and even then he was almost too good to be true.
117th over: England 574-3 (Root 221, Brook 175) Shaheen Shah Afridi returns to the attack. Brook is starting to indulge himself slightly now – I think he’s earned the right – and missed a premeditated ramp. Shaheen winces, Brook smiles.
When Brook inside-edges a single, Shaheen playfully (I think) puts his hands on Brook’s helmet in the why-I-oughta style.
“Rather surprisingly,” says Tom Irving, “these two have the first and fourth highest scores for England in Pakistan.”
Interesting that none of the top seven scores have come in an England victory, at least not yet.
Introducing … Sam Konstas, a barely 19-year-old Australian opener who has just made his second century of the match for New South Wales against South Australia. India is surely too soon; England might not be.
The 19 year old batting sensation Sam Konstas goes 💯 and 💯 in the Shield 🏏
Cam Green likely out for summer with Back surgery #SpotsOpeningUp— Damien Fleming (@bowlologist) October 10, 2024
116th over: England 567-3 (Root 217, Brook 174) Salman is bowling miles outside leg stump from round the wicket. Root hits a boundary past leg slip, using his bat almost like a broom. Do people use brooms any more? It’s all Sharks and hand-helds I hear.
“It could be worse for Pakistan,” says Felix Wood. “If not for injury Ben Stokes would be due in next. Him coming in on a road at 600 odd for 4 could have been brutal.”
Sure could, though my instinct is that Stokes tends to fail more often than not in those situations. He needs jeopardy or some kind of challenge to function. No idea whether the stats support this or whether I’m talking out of my weary 7am derriere.
England lead by 11 runs and it’s time for drinks.
115th over: England 562-3 (Root 212, Brook 174) Another reason to keep Pakistan out there is that the second Test begins on this very same graveyard on Tuesday, so it pays to weary the minds and bodies of Pakistan’s quick bowlers in particular.
Jamal winces after stopping a Root straight drive with his ankle, but he’s okay to continue. A canny bumper surprises Brook, who tries to hook and is beaten. There was a noise but nobody appealed.
114th over: England 561-3 (Root 211, Brook 174) “Steve Waugh is a good call,” says Stephen Cottrell. “People often misinterpret ‘mental disintegration’ and think of it as a euphemism for sledging when it’s more about keeping opponents on the field for three days then writing a 700- page book about it. I hope England do the former. With no Olly Stone, the bowlers need to put their feet up for as long as possible today.”
I love the idea of Waugh’s tour diaries (which are actually really good) being little more than a device to prolong the mental disintegration of England players and fans. When it came to grinding teams down in the field, Allan Border showed even less mercy. An abiding memory of my first few years watching Test cricket is Australia declaring on 650 for 4 sometime on Saturday morning, then wrapping up an innings victory while I was at school on either the Monday or Tuesday.
113th over: England 556-3 (Root 208, Brook 172) The average partnership between Root and Brook is 78, which puts them fourth on the all-time England list (minimum 1000 runs) behind these gentlemen:
Wally Hammond and Eddie Paynter (1933-39)
Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe (1924-30)
Allan Lamb and Robin Smith (1988-92)
A pristine drive for three by Root brings the scores level. Pakistan may be about to enter a world of pain. A world of pain.
112th over: England 550-3 (Root 203, Brook 171) The offspinner Salman is bowling around the wicket to the right-handers, firing the ball outside leg stump. After a single brings up the 300 partnership, Brook misses a sweep and is almost bowled round his legs.
England have had four 300+ fourth-wicket partnerships in their history; Root and Brook are responsible for two of them. Mind you, England didn’t win any of the other three Tests: Edbgaston 1957, Adelaide 2006-07, Wellington 2022-23.
111th over: England 547-3 (Root 202, Brook 169) Brook hits Jamal for successive boundaries, though the two shots could barely be more different: a flamboyant, on-the-run slap over extra cover and an efficient tickle to fine leg.
Bazball-era England haven’t always been a model of ruthlessness but this batting performance would have done Steve Waugh’s Australia proud.
Since Rajkot, when he was infamously dismissed trying to reverse ramp Jasprit Bumrah, Joe Root has scored 1109 runs at 92.41. Tellingly, they’ve been almost exclusively sober runs. As Andy Zaltzman pointed out on TMS, he hasn’t hit a six in that time.
A double hundred from Joe Root!
110th over: England 536-3 (Root 200, Brook 160) Root reached his century with a reverse sweep and seems to determined to do the same for his 200. After three attempts, the second of which brings two runs, he gets a ball on the hip that not even he can reverse. So he pats it for a single to reach a mighty 200 from 305 balls. Like the man said, how on earth does he make batting look so simple?
It’s his sixth double hundred in Tests; only Wally Hammond, with seven, has made more for England. Since you asked, Don Bradman hit 12.
Brook ends the over with an outrageous shot, reverse sweeping from miles outside leg stump for three runs.
109th over: England 530-3 (Root 197, Brook 157) A double bowling change. Brook greets Aamer Jamal by walking down the track to clip languidly over mid-on for four. There was a bit of flamingo in that shot.
With the pitch still doing almost nothing – one or two balls have kept low – it feels like England’s best weapons are scoreboard pressure and possibly reverse swing.
108th over: England 525-3 (Root 196, Brook 153) With Abrar unwell, Salman Ali Agha is coming on to bowl some offspin. His second ball skids on to beat Brook, a nice piece of bowling, but then Root cracks three through the covers. He’s a boundary away.
There are reports that Abrar Ahmed’s fever is bad enough for him to be hospitalised, so it’s hard to see him being involved today. Mind you they said the same about Eddie Paynter.
107th over: England 518-3 (Root 192, Brook 150) Brook is beaten by a grubber from Naseem, then times the sweetest of cover drive for four to reach a brilliant 150 from 186 balls.
Naseem’s figures stinks (24-0-105-1) but he’s bowled pretty admirably on a hideous pitch for fast bowlers. Even an attack of Marshall, Thomson and Tyson would have struggled on this.
106th over: England 514-3 (Root 192, Brook 146) The home broadcaster show a short video of the commentator Rameez Raja chatting to Babar before the start of the play. “I promise,” he says, “it wasn’t a fielding session…”
England continue to tick along, with the deficit down to 43. Brook is taking time to get his eye in again; in terms of tempo adjustment this has been one of his better innings. It would be so easy, with his talent and record in Pakistan, to see a pitch like this and think you can hit every ball for four. He has been greedy rather than indulgent, an excellent sign after that slightly immature innings against Sri Lanka at the Oval.
105th over: England 513-3 (Root 192, Brook 145) Pakistan’s main spinner Abrar Ahmed is off the field with a fever, which makes life even more difficult. Naseem beats Brook with a good delivery that kicks up to hit the keeper Rizwan on the neck. There might just be a hint of reverse swing.
Oh my dizzy days. Babar has dropped Root, a simple chance at midwicket. Root slugged a pull straight to Babar, who didn’t have to move but couldn’t hold on. You cannot do that Babar Azam: not on this pitch, not when it’s Joe Root.
Naseem goes down on his haunches, then waves his arms around in frustration when Root drives the next ball beautifully to the cover boundary. He’s eight away from his sixth double hundred in Tests.
104th over: England 506-3 (Root 186, Brook 144) Root clips Shaheen majestically for four, placed perfectly between short midwicket and mid-on. As Ian Ward said on commentary when he hit his 34th century in the summer, “How on earth does he make batting look so simple?”
The pitch is still doing nothing, and while it wouldn’t surprise me if England declare just before lunch, I do think the best tactic is to bat on and on and let this recent defeat to Bangladesh swirl round Pakistan’s subconscious.
103rd over: England 500-3 (Root 180, Brook 144) Stiff or not, Root is able to scamper back for two after pushing Naseem Shah behind square on the off side. That’s another feature of this innings: only 48 of his runs have come in boundaries. He also hit 12 fours in his 88 against Pakistan in 2015-16. Like his beloved Graham Thorpe, Root can skin a bowling attack any way you like.
Brook also did a lot of running yesterday, more than usual, and he and Root scamper six in that over. A no-ball makes it seven in total, which brings up the 500. It’s not quite Brisbane 2010 but a scoreboard that reads England 500-3 will never fail to warm the heart.
“Morning Rob,” says Brian Withington. “I was just checking the numbers for that era defining first Test in Pakistan in 2022, and they are still simply mind boggling. Sustained scoring rates at over 6.5 (first innings) and over 7 in the second. It’s making the current iteration of England look positively sedate.
“What I’d forgotten was that the second and third Tests were relatively low scoring affairs – and of course, that England took all 60 wickets throughout the tour, which was almost as much of an achievement as the batting.”
It almost makes less sense with each passing day. And because the tour was such a triumph, the first 3-0 win in Pakistan, we forget how close the first two games were. It could easily have been 1-0 to Pakistan after two Tests. That makes the achievement even more special, both in the moment and historically.
102nd over: England 493-3 (Root 176, Brook 142) Shaheen starts around the wicket to Brook, who waves his first ball to deep backward point for a single. If he gets in again he’ll be eyeing a new Test-best score, 0same as Root. Theit targets are 186 and 254 respectively.
Root, who must be stiff as a board after being on the field for all bar eight balls of the game, is beaten on the inside by a very good delivery that just misses the off stump.
Shaheen Shah Afridi has the ball in his hand. Shall we?
England have used the heavy roller this morning and I’m boring myself in the hope it will expand the cracks on this pitch. The problem, as Nasser Hussain says on Sky, is that so far the ball has done almost nothing off those cracks.
Simon Burnton’s day three report
Earlier this year Joe Root mocked Harry Brook for referring to him as “grandad” but it almost seemed appropriate as he hauled himself up to the dressing room at tea, 119 runs and 187 balls into his innings, using his bat as a makeshift walking stick while his fellow Yorkshireman disappeared ahead of him, vaulting the steps two at a time.
Read Ali Martin on Joe Root, the scamp who grew up to be a genius
It may be that, as well as cricket’s paywalled existence in the UK, this lack of ego and self-promotion has stopped Root fully transcending the sport. There was a time when the man of the series in a home Ashes win would have booked a spot on the shortlist for BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
But in 2015, when Root achieved that feat, he did not make the cut. Root is not lacking in personality – far from it, he is a beauty – but somehow this understated excellence in his chosen field has never quite gone fully mainstream, unlike Andrew Flintoff in 2005 or Ben Stokes in 2019. This being a more low-key year for England’s Test side, the trend will probably continue (Spoty has long since lost its lustre anyway). But there is little doubt we are watching greatness right now.
Preamble
Morning. When Ben Stokes became England captain in 2022, he was asked whether he might, like Nasser Hussain at the turn of the century, stabilise a desperate team by first making them hard to beat. “Nah,” Stokes smiled. “I don’t think there’ll be too many draws.”
He’s been as good as his word. In the Bazball era England have drawn only one of their 29 Tests, and that was because of two days of miserable, biblical rain in Manchester during the 2023 Ashes.
The next few hours will tell us whether England detest draws or merely dislike them. In their position, the usual approach to would be for at least three hours and go well past Pakistan’s first-innings total, but that would increase the chances of the dreaded D-word. An early declaration would make a positive result a bit more likely – but it might also expose England to another D-word, defeat.
It feels weird to talk about a team – an England cricket team – that would genuinely prefer to lose than draw. But that was unquestionably the case at Trent Bridge in 2022, albeit in slightly different circumstances, so it will be fascinating to see how England play this.
They will resume on 492 for 3, a deficit of 64, after a day of plenty for their batters. Ben Duckett defied a busted thumb to make the breeziest of 84s before Joe Root and Harry Brook gave a masterclass in the business of run-scoring.
Root became England’s highest Test run-scorer en route to 176 not out; Brook went up and down the gears like a veteran and still managed to score 141 not out from only 173 balls. There should be loads more runs out there today, if England want them.
