Pakistan on the ropes after Brook 317, Root 262

Twenty years after Virender Sehwag serenaded the Multan Stadium with a glorious triple hundred, the ground's renovated stands became the backdrop of a stunning 317 from Harry Brook, who became England's sixth triple centurion in Test cricket. In the company of Joe Root, who got to a sixth Test match double enroute a career-best 262, the visitors posted the fourth-highest total of 823 for 7. It left Pakistan buried under a mountain of a deficit to overcome in the third innings despite having scored 556 themselves in the first dig. The scoreboard pressure combined with England's propensity to extract a little more uncertainty from a fourth-day pitch proved too much for Pakistan to handle as they slipped tamely to 152 for 6 and faced a sixth Test defeat on the bounce.

By the time Ollie Pope declared the innings deep into the second session of play on the fourth day, Brook and Root had effected enough mental disintegration on their hosts. That England did so while scoring at 5.48 runs to the over meant they roared ahead without wasting too much time in the game. The visitors started the day 64 behind. By Lunch, they were ahead by 102 and despite batting just one more over than Pakistan had in the first innings, England scored an additional 267 runs before their captain realised that they had enough runs and time in the bank to force a result.

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