Crawley scores England’s fastest Test hundred as an opener
Thursday 1st December 2022
Zak Crawley has broken records in a commanding innings of 122 from 111 deliveries against Pakistan at Rawalpindi.
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In England’s first Test held in Pakistan since 2005, Crawley put on an opening stand of 233 with Kent-born Nottinghamshire batter Ben Duckett, with the pair piling on 103 runs even before the first drinks break at 14 overs – Crawley attributed to 58 of them.
As they took on fluids, they had set a new record of England’s fastest ever century stand; it took 83 deliveries to reach three figures as a duo, beating a record that Crawley had helped set alongside Alex Lees against South Africa this past September.
After 20 overs, the duo had put on 141 runs for no loss – put against the recent T20 World Cup Final which featured both sides, Pakistan had made 137/8 in international cricket’s shortest format.
Their opening partnership passed 150 runs at a run rate of 6.86, a new Test record surpassing the Burns/Warner Australian opening stand vs. New Zealand in 2015 (6.29).
Crawley soon found himself in a situation where he could join the likes of Don Bradman, Victor Trumper & Shikhar Dhawan in scoring a Test hundred before Lunch on Day One, but on 91, the right-hander couldn’t quite make it as the clock ticked over to 13:00 local time to signal the end of the session.
He reached his third Test hundred from just 86 balls after surviving a leg-before DRS call on 99, & has eventually dismissed for 122, bowled by Haris Rauf.
After his first innings at Rawalpindi, Crawley climbed to a Test batting average of 147.3 against Pakistan, scoring more than 50 runs in all innings to date, & having scored his famous 267 against them at the Ageas Bowl in 2020.
