Harry Brook has explained how boundary-pushing England skipper Ben Stokes inspired him to break more Test records against Pakistan.
Brook turned his overnight maiden century into a magical 153 off just 116 deliveries in a wonderful batting exhibition on a flat Rawalpindi pitch as England were finally bowled out for a mammoth 657.
Stokes' side were then given a clear reminder, if they needed one, that taking 20 wickets on this surface will prove an uphill task as Pakistan fought back to close on 181-0. But Brook - batting in just his second Test innings - stole the limelight with a blistering boundary barrage on Friday morning.
The Yorkshire batter stole one record from Stokes as he became the fastest scorer of 150 in England history, reaching the feat in 20 balls fewer than his captain's memorable knock against South Africa in Cape Town.
Brook smashed Pakistan spinner Saud Shakeel for six consecutive fours in a record 24 run over on day one. And just 24 laters, he set a new record for an English batter by dishing out similarly brutal treatment to Zahid Mahmoud by crushing 27 runs from his 27th over.
And the youngster has revealed the details of Stokes' message to his team before day two, with the captain and head coach Brendan McCullum urging their players to make fans re-imagine what is possible in Test cricket.
"One of the things Stokesy said before play was that we'd broken some records yesterday, let's try and break some more today," Brook said.
"With the amount of runs we had on the board, we had the freedom to go out and play however we wanted. I'm over the moon. Obviously it's a dream come to true just to play Test cricket in the first place, but to get a 100 is very special."
England are now tasked with turning their record-breaking batting performance into a Test win on their first tour to Pakistan in 17 years. And Brook is confident his team can claim the 20 wickets they need to win to secure victory.
"It's a pretty nice wicket to bat on, as you can tell by our score," he admitted. "It's going to be tough to get 20 wickets, but we're going to give it a crack.
"Hopefully Stokesy can figure out a plan to get some wickets, and if it keeps getting lower and lower, and we keep bowling at the stumps, there's no reason why we can't get them all out."
