1st Test
Day-3 Afternoon Session Highlights:
Joe Root’s century has anchored another dominant session for England team
At The Tea of Day-3:
England scored 351/3 (1st Innings), where as Pakistan scored 556 (1st Innings).
So, finally England trail by 205 runs.
Another session in the series-opening Multan Test belonged to the batters as England continued to rack up the runs.
Joe Root, who had surpassed Alastair Cook to become England’s all-time leading run-scorer in Tests, brought up his 35th Test century, while Harry Brook stepped in after Ben Duckett’s departure.
Together, they amassed 119 runs in the post-lunch session, reducing the deficit to 205.
Root resumed in the afternoon from where he had left off before lunch, collecting a boundary in the first over of the session.
Pakistan, however, struck early as they dismissed the dangerous Duckett.
Duckett, who had batted at No. 4 after a thumb injury, had flayed the bowling attack in the morning session but fell 16 runs short of a century.
His dismissal brought no respite for Pakistan, as Brook wasted no time, smashing a boundary off just his second delivery.
Brook continued his aggressive approach, racing to 21 off just 15 balls.
The pattern was similar to the morning session, with the new batter taking control after an early wicket.
Shaheen Afridi’s introduction didn’t help matters for Pakistan, as Brook hammered him for three boundaries, while Root added one more off the left-arm pacer to inch closer to his century.
Brook reached his fifty off just 49 balls, and in the following over, Root brought up his milestone, becoming the sixth player in history to reach 35 Test centuries.
Pakistan’s efforts to break the century stand were in vain as the two batters comfortably played through the final overs before the break.
While Pakistan still holds a lead of over 200 runs, England’s rapid scoring rate and seven wickets in hand should be a growing concern for the home side.
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