A dominant England batting lineup put up a massive first innings total of 657 all out on day two of the opening test match against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Friday.
England chose to bat on a flat surface and four of their top five batsmen quickly reached hundreds as they played with Pakistan’s inexperienced bowling attack.
After utterly dominating the first day of the match, England resumed on 506-4. Even though Naseem Shah (3-140) made early inroads for Pakistan, the English batters continued to score at a rapid pace.
Liam Livingstone scored nine runs in his first test and visiting Captain Ben Stokes was dismissed after an 18-ball 41, overnight batter Harry Brook (153) was unstoppable.
Brook’s 116-ball blitz, which included five sixes and 19 fours, was finally put to an end by Naseem.
For his four wickets, leg spinner Zahid conceded 235 runs, the most by any test rookie.
Earlier, England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and decided to bat against Pakistan in the first test on Thursday.
Pakistan named four debutants in their playing 11 including Saud Shakeel, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Ali, and Zahid Mehmood.
This will be England’s first test visit to Pakistan since 2005, and they will also play at Multan and Karachi.
