England pulled off another explosive start on Day 1 of the second Test match against West Indies at Trent Bridge on Thursday, July 18. Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope displayed aggressive cricket by smashing the fastest-ever team fifty in red-ball cricket history.
After losing opener Zak Crawley in the very first over, the Three Lions seemed to be struggling with no runs in the first five balls. But Duckett replied with four consecutive fours off Jayden Seales in the second over to accelerate the team's innings. The duo added an unbeaten 86 runs for the second wicket in just 12 overs and shattered the world record for fastest team fifty.
England broke their own record by a margin of just one ball as they reached the 50-run mark in just 4.2 overs. The Three Lions previously held the record for the fastest team fifty when they reached 50 against South Africa in 4.3 overs at The Oval in 1994.
Fastest team fifties in men's Test cricket
- 4.2 overs - England vs West Indies, Nottingham, 2024
- 4.3 overs - England vs South Africa, The Oval, 1994
- 4.6 overs - England vs Sri Lanka, Manchester, 2002
- 5.2 overs - Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Karachi, 2004
- 5.3 overs - India vs England, Chennai, 2008
- 5.3 overs - India vs West Indies, Port of Spain, 2023
Meanwhile, Duckett smashed his eighth Test fifty in just 32 balls and registered the joint-third fastest fifty for England. He narrowly missed Ian Botham's all-time record of 28-ball fifty against India in 1981 but registered the fastest fifty record by an English opener.
Fastest Test fifties by an England players
- 28 balls - Ian Botham vs India, 1981
- 30 balls - Jonny Bairstow vs New Zealand, 2022
- 32 balls - Ian Botham vs New Zealand, 1986
- 32 balls - Ben Duckett vs West Indies, 2024
England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir.
West Indies Playing XI: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Kevin Sinclair, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales.
