England broke all the conventions of Test Cricket by posting 506-4 on Day 1 of the first Test between againstย Pakistan at Rawalpindi.
Just before Day 1, the English camp was hit by a viral infection and struggled to put an XI on the field. However, It had a fit 11-man squad, and the match could begin just two hours before the toss.
After winning the toss, England captain Ben Stokes decided to bat first, and the batters destroyed the Pakistani bowling line-up, breaking records throughout the day.
The openers, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, started the 'Bazball' approach from the first over by hitting 14 runs before amassing 100 runs within the first 14 overs.
"It all happened really fast; towards the end of Tuesday night, it just came on," Duckett said.
"I felt fine going to bed, and I found out the following day that there were about 13 or 14 others, so not the best build-up to a Test match and certainly not the best for me in my first one back for six years.
"But it would have had to have taken a lot for me not to come to the ground today and play. Stokesy (captain Ben Stokes) said, 'Let's get out there and take them on.
"I think it would have been tough if the game was yesterday, but the lads have done pretty well today," Duckett added.
"The energy levels probably weren't the highest this morning. There were some happy men when we won the toss and batted and gave our bowlers another day to rest up.
By the end of the first session, Crawley and Duckett stormed England to 0-174.
England's 174 runs without loss at lunch established the record for most runs in a Test session, surpassing India's 158 against Afghanistan in Bangalore in 2018.
Crawley made it into the record books by scoring the fastest-ever Test hundred by an England opener.
"It's unbelievable," Crawley said after his 122-run innings. "I was pleased with how I played ... I was annoyed when I got out because you always want more."
With Duckett making a comeback into the side after six years, he did not waste the opportunity as he scored his maiden test century.
Openers set the tone for the team by smashing the stand of 233 within 181 balls to be the fastest double test century stand in the history of Test Cricket.
Ollie Pope and Harry Brook continued where the opening pair left off in the afternoon session, as England showed no signs of slowing down.
After the fall of wickets of the openers, Pope, England's new No.3, came down all guns blazing, smashing 14 fours and within no time he completed his century.
Yorkshire batsman Harry Brook became the third fastest English batter to score a century in Test Cricket. Brook's maiden Test century set the platform for Ben Stokes to continue the domination.
Stokes' 34* off 15 balls took the English team over the 500-run mark in just 75 overs at the end of the day's play.
England also became the fastest team to score 500 runs.
The English team was the first to score the most runs on the first day of a Test match (506), surpassing Australia's 6-494 against South Africa in 1910 at Sydney Cricket Ground.
It is the first time four hundredx were scored on the first day of the Test match.
In response, Pakistan's Head Coach Saqlain Mushtaq remarked that England played exciting cricket.
"It was exciting from England's point of view," Mushtaq said. "The pitch was similar to the one we had against Australia, but it should have been a bit supportive."
England will be looking to bat throughout the first two sessions and post some more quick runs.
