Yet another session in series-opening Multan Test match belonged to the batters as England continued to pile on the runs. Joe Root, who had gone past Alastair Cook to become England's highest run-scorer in Tests, managed to bring up his 35th ton in Test cricket and Harry Brook joined in after Ben Duckett's departure as the visitors made 119 runs in the post-lunch session to bring the deficit down to 205, reports Cricbuzz.
Root continued in the afternoon from where he had left before lunch as he fetched a boundary in the opening over of the session. However, Pakistan found success quite early as the dangerous Duckett was sent back. Duckett, who had come down to bat at No.4 after an injury, flayed the bowling attack in the morning session but was dismissed 16 short of a ton. His wicket didn't bring much relief though for Pakistan as Brook signalled his intentions with a boundary off just the second ball he had faced.
Brook went on the offensive and collected boundaries to race to 21 off just 15. The proceedings were very similar to that of the morning session where the new batter, after an early wicket, dominated proceedings straightaway. Shaheen Afridi's introduction didn't help matters either as Brook pummelled him for three boundaries before Root added one more off the left-arm pacer to inch closer to his century.
While Brook brought up his fifty off just 49 balls, Root reached his big landmark in the following over. With that 35th ton, the former England skipper is now behind only five batters in that prestigious list. Pakistan's attempts to break the century stand proved to be futile as the two batters comfortably batted out the final few overs before the break. Even though Pakistan still hold a lead of over 200 runs, the rate at which England are going should be a cause for concern especially with the visitors still having seven wickets in hand.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
