Centuries from Alastair Cook and Joe Root put England in command at the end of day one of the second Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford. After winning the toss and electing to bat, England’s captain along with Root helped them finish the day on 314/4.
Although Alex Hales was out cheaply once again, Root and Cook put on 185 for the second wicket and Cook brought up his 29th Test century. Root soon followed suit and got his 10th Test ton but lost James Vince and Gary Ballance before the close of day’s play, which brought Chris Woakes to the middle.
At 314/4 and Root unbeaten on 141, England will look to capitalise and set up a big total before Pakistan come in to bat for the first innings.
Here are some interesting numbers from the day’s play.
0 – No England captain has scored more centuries than Alastair Cook. His century in the first innings helped him equal Graham Gooch’s record of 11 centuries.
1 – Only Alastair Cook had registered his tenth Test hundred quicker than Joe Root, which is an English record. Cook was 25 years and 1 day when he got his against SA in 2009 while Root was 25 years and 205 days when he got his.
1 – This was Root’s first century as a No.3 batsman. Prior to this match, he had an average of 28.66 at No.3 for England.
2 – Only two captains, Mike Atherton (54) and Michael Vaughan (51) have captained England in more Tests than Cook, who is skipper for the 50th time in Tests.
2 – Only Sunil Gavaskar (33) and Matthew Hayden (30) have hit more centuries as openers in Tests than Cook’s 27, which is level with Graeme Smith.
9 – This was only the ninth time that two of the top three batsmen have made hundreds in an innings against Pakistan. Before Cook and Root got it, the last instance was by a pair of South Africans as Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs made 151 and 228 in January 2003. This was also the first time since 1962 that two of England’s top three have a ton in an innings against Pakistan.
26.11 – England’s opening partnership average since their last century partnership is 26.11. Since the first innings against New Zealand at Leeds last year, they have only put on just one fifty partnership.
29 – With his 29th Test century, Cook now has the same amount of Test hundreds as Don Bradman. The legendary Australian batsman only played 52 Tests for his 29 tons while Cook took 131 Tests to get there.
31 – Cook’s score was his 31st fifty-plus score as captain, which is the most by any English skipper, beating Mike Atherton’s 30.
186 – The number of balls bowled by Yasir Shah without getting a wicket in this game is the most overs he has ever bowled while remaining wicketless in a Test innings. His previous record was 30 overs against Bangladesh last year. This was also only the third time that he had conceded over 100 runs in an innings.
2001 – The last time England put on a better partnership at Old Trafford for any wicket before Root and Cook’s 185-run stand was by Graham Thorpe and Michael Vaughan who added 267 for the third wicket, also against Pakistan.
2006 – Before Root’s century, the last time an English No.3 made a Test hundred at Old Trafford was 2006 when Cook made 127 against Pakistan.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download Cric Rocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more!
