England seal record win

England, riding on the sublime batting of Harry Brook and Joe Root, became the first team to win a Test by an innings after conceding more than 500 runs in the first stanza, sealing the victory early on the fifth day of the series opener. After a record-breaking day in which the duo helped England post a colossal 823/7 before the bowlers ran through Pakistan’s top order, the tourists completed an extraordinary innings and 47-run victory well before lunch.

With Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed not batting due to illness, England reduced the hosts to 220/9 after some early resistance as Jack Leach bagged the three wickets needed and sparked huge celebrations among a small but vocal group of travelling fans.

While the bowlers completed the job, it was a stupendous batting effort that set up the win after Brook scored 317 and Root made 262 in a partnership that ground the hosts to dust.

“We knew the way to win this game was to put a mammoth score on the board,” England’s stand-in skipper Ollie Pope said.

“I think that’s credit to (Brook and Root) for the skills they’ve got with the bat, the determination they had to put the team in a winning position. So it was awesome.”

Brief scores: Pakistan: 556 & 220 (Salman 63, Jamal 55*; Leach 4/30); England: 823/7 dec.