England racked up a record-breaking 506-4 on day one of the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi as Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Harry Brook all scored brilliant hundreds.
Despite concerns the Test may have to be delayed for a day after around seven England players were laid low with a virus, the game got underway as planned with only wicketkeeper Ben Foakes unable to take his place in the starting XI.
His absence meant Surrey all-rounder Will Jacks was handed a Test debut alongside Liam Livingstone, while Pope will fill in behind the stumps - something he did once before against New Zealand in 2019 after Jos Buttler suffered an injury.
England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bat first on a flat pitch against a Pakistan attack containing three debutants. And Crawley and Duckett promptly cashed in, putting on 233 for the first wicket.
Crawley raced to his third Test hundred off just 86 balls, breaking Graham Gooch's record for the fastest by an England opener. Duckett, meanwhile, reached three figures off 105 balls, with his hundred the third-fastest by an England opener.
It was a stunning display of batting from the pair, who put on 141 in the first 20 overs which was more than 137-8 Pakistan scored against England in last month's T20 World Cup final. They eventually fell in successive overs, with Duckett pinned lbw for 107 by Zahid Mahmood before Crawley was bowled by Haris Rauf for 122.
Pope and Brook then shared another stellar partnership worth 176 runs, with Pope scoring a brilliant hundred off 90 balls and Brook bringing up his first Test century off only 80 balls - the third fastest by an Englishman. England ended the day having scored the most runs ever on the first day of a Test and with Brook unbeaten on 101 alongside Stokes, who has 34 off 15, and the likes of Livingstone and Jacks still to come there will surely be more carnage on day two.
Here are five talking points...
Crawley's record-breaking hundred
After a disappointing summer, Crawley made sure to cash in on a flat pitch in Rawalpindi and scored his third Test century. The 24-year-old brought up his hundred off just 86 balls, making it the joint fourth-fastest by an Englishman and the fastest by an England opener.
He broke a 32-year old record held by Graham Gooch, who scored a 95-ball hundred against India at Lord's back in 1990. Crawley embodies the aggressive and positive manner Stokes and Brendon McCullum want England to approach Test cricket with and this innings was a perfect example of that.
"They have backed him, they realise he is a real talent," former England captain Nasser Hussain told Sky Sports. "It has been a bit feast or famine, but his next stage is to find that consistency."
Duckett's second chance
Six years ago, Duckett played four Tests against Bangladesh and India at the age of 22 but struggled against the spinners, with Ravichandran Ashwin in particular terrorising him. He was quickly jettisoned, but has now earned a recall after scoring 1,012 runs at 72.28 in this year's County Championship for Nottinghamshire.
He is a much improved player now and made the most of his opportunity, scoring 107 off 110 balls and sharing a huge 233-run partnership with Crawley. Duckett is another player who embodies the Stokes-McCullum philosophy and he will certainly be afforded plenty of opportunities to establish himself.
"I'm really pleased for Ben Duckett," ex-England captain Michael Atherton said on Sky Sports. "I was there six years ago when he made his Test debut in Bangladesh and remember thinking at the time 'Blimey, I'm glad I didn't have to make my Test debut in those conditions!' They were two really tricky pitches in Chittagong and Dhaka with the ball really spinning viciously."
Pakistan's inexperienced attack
It certainly helped England that they were playing on an incredibly flat pitch in Rawalpindi, but they were able to impose themselves early on a hugely inexperienced Pakistan bowling attack that was sorely missing star man Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Afridi injured his right knee in the T20 World Cup final, having returned from a three-month lay-off at the tournament after suffering a similar injury. As a result, Pakistan lined up against England with three debutants in their bowling attack, with 19-year-old Naseem the only frontline bowler to have played Test cricket before.
Mohammad Ali, Rauf and Mahmood experienced a chastening introduction to Test cricket, with all three going at more than five runs an over. And while their inexperience certainly showed at times, particularly in the first session, England were absolutely ruthless in the way they capitalised.
Pope has made number three his own
When it was announced that Pope would be England's new number three, the move was met with much scepticism given he had been axed after a woeful Ashes series and had never batted higher than number four in his entire first-class career. However, Pope showed plenty of promise over the summer, scoring a brilliant 145 against New Zealand three half-centuries.
He ended the summer with 456 runs at an average of 38 and has now followed that up with a brilliant century against Pakistan off just 90 balls. Pope is one of the most promising young talents in English cricket and now looks to have made the number three spot his own, with the 24-year-old now delivering on his undoubted potential under Stokes and McCullum.
"Ollie Pope has played so nicely, he's put the spinners under a lot of pressure by playing those reverse sweeps - he played two from his first few balls," former England spinner Alex Hartley said on BBC Test Match Special. "It's so hard to bowl at because you're trying to defend all parts of the ground."
Brook's hundred the first of many
Brook is regarded as a potentially generational talent by England, with the 23-year-old one of very few young players capable of having a long and prolific international career across all three formats. He has already helped England win the T20 World Cup and has now notched his first international hundred in just his second Test.
As the fourth player to reach free figures on day one, Brook did so the quickest as he scored an 80-ball hundred. It is the third-fastest Test hundred by an Englishman and will surely be the first of many for the talented Yorkshireman. 0
"You watch him bat in the nets and has a very disciplined method," England's World Cup winning captain Jos Buttler said on Sky Sports . "Even during the T20s he would unfurl a perfect forward defence. He has so much game for every format. He has got it all, easy power as well. He loves batting, just as much as Joe Root."
