ENG vs PAK, 1st Test: Hammering, sheer hammering, and a brutal display of what the term 'Bazball' stands for. England, what have you done? it certainly isn't white-ball cricket. A test match certainly isn't played how England have played it, but with Brendon McCullum at the helm of English cricket, you expect bizarre things to happen. In the first Test match that is being played in Rawalpindi, the English cricket team has given Pakistan one hammering of a lifetime and it is not ending anytime soon.
On the eve of this particular Test match, England had difficulties with fielding a proper eleven, but they somehow got things in place and entered the competition. Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first and so far it has been England's game. Things have been extremely difficult for Pakistan as England's top three batsmen scored blistering tons. Crawley scored 122 off 111 deliveries at a strike rate of 109.91. Ben Duckett and wicketkeeper-batsman Ollie Pope too scored 107 and 108 respectively. With this, England have become the third team in Tests to score the fastest team hundred since 2001.
Fastest team hundreds in Tests since 2001
- 2001: SL in 13.2 overs against BAN in Colombo
- 2012: BAN in 13.4 overs against WI in Mirpur
- 2022: ENG in 13.4 overs against PAK in Rawalpindi
- 2012: AUS in 13.6 overs against IND in Perth
Pakistan are certainly having a taste of Bazball here in Rawalpindi and England are trying to bat them out of the game as soon as possible. The scenario of the game will become clearer once Pakistan take the field and proceed with their batting innings.
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Pakistan's playing XI: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (c), Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Ali, Zahid Mahmood
England's playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (wk), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Liam Livingstone, Will Jacks, Jack Leach, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson
