The overnight batters Joe Root and Zak Crawley took the crease on Day 3 as Shaheen Shah Afridi began the proceedings for Pakistan. The pair started positively, rotating the strike well and building a promising partnership. However, Afridi soon broke the stand by dismissing Crawley for a well-played 78 off 85 balls. The English crowd in Multan breathed a sigh of relief when Ben Duckett, who couldn’t bat the previous day due to injury, came out to join Root. Together, they quickly added a 50-run partnership, pushing the score to 163/2 in 32 overs. Root was sublime as he surpassed 5,000 runs in the World Test Championship and reached his half-century in 76 balls. Duckett followed suit with his own fifty, placing England in a strong position. As the session progressed, the pitch slowed down and the bowlers found some reverse swing. England reached 232/4 in 45 overs, trailing by 324 runs at lunch, with Duckett and Root steering the innings forward.
Post-lunch, Duckett was dismissed after scoring 84 runs, but Root maintained his excellent form, inching closer to yet another century. Partnering with Brook, Root propelled England’s score to 317/3, with Brook contributing a half-century. Despite the Pakistan bowlers—both pace and spin—putting in their utmost effort on a pitch showing signs of wear, the English batters continued to assert their dominance. A significant milestone was reached in the 63rd over when Root secured his 35th Test century, marking his fifth ton of the year. This achievement brought a wave of joy to the England dugout. The duo forged a 102-run partnership, lifting England’s score to 351/3 and reducing the deficit to 205 runs as tea was called.
In the final session of the day, Root and Brook continued their dominant display, with the hosts doing their utmost to break the partnership. Root left no stone unturned, scoring occasional boundaries and taking singles. In the process, he reached 150 runs off 235 deliveries, while Brook completed his century in 188 balls. Their partnership blossomed to an impressive 222 runs, propelling England to 471/3 and trailing by just 85 runs. The day concluded with England at 492/3, trailing by 64 runs, with Root batting at 176 runs and Brook on 141 runs.
True
Seeing the pitches in Pakistan, Joe Root might ask ECB to propose a 7-match Test series here every year.
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) October 9, 2024
LOL
Yasir Shah has more test tons in Australia than Joe Root
😬 https://t.co/15y1RAMaI8— Rob Moody (@robelinda2) October 9, 2024
Best Test batter of this decade by a huge margin, Joe Root 🥶 pic.twitter.com/spyxDYDN96
— Dinda Academy (@academy_dinda) October 9, 2024
Crawley on the hunt
Joe Root celebrating becoming Englands highest ever run scorer then realising he lives in the Zak Crawley era and will be surpassed within 5 years pic.twitter.com/0viEeXq3OL
— What is Zak Crawley doing? (@ZakCrawleyFan) October 9, 2024
The best
Joe Root’s batting average in all countries. If we ignore BD where he’s played just 2 tests, 35.68 in Australia is his lowest.
He is one of the best test batsmen ever. pic.twitter.com/ssCiGtfFiz— Pushkar Singh (@pushkar_g_singh) October 9, 2024
Joe Root First Test 50 on his Debut vs India.
Look Closely who picked the ball when he scored half century #JoeRoot https://t.co/2fRknLpTt4 pic.twitter.com/1XEW4e49z7— AT10 (@Loyalsachfan10) October 9, 2024
Century
A Joe Root century was inevitable on this Multan pitch. He can bat as long as he likes here.#PAKvENG
— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) October 9, 2024
Unreal
Unreal this !! The way Joe Root’s been batting since 2021, you cannot take away that from him. Crazy century progression this. 18 centuries in the last 4 years, and there are 5 matches more for him this year. He didn’t have a great record in Pakistan, prior to this century, but… pic.twitter.com/2DWTSLKw3T
— Spandan Roy (@talksports45) October 9, 2024
The first Test in Multan is into its 250th over… Joe Root has spent eight balls off the field so far
— Matt Roller (@mroller98) October 9, 2024
Absolutely
