English lead against Pakistan, thanks to Duckett and Crawley

• Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, England’s openers, both scored centuries
• That too on the opening day of the Test match against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Thursday
• After starting the day on 174-0, England was 332-3 at tea on day one

The left-handed 28-year-old pulled Pakistani pacer Haris Rauf for a boundary to reach the three-figure milestone but was out for 107 off spinner Zahid Mahmood a few balls later.

Successful review and Zahid Mehmood takes his maiden Test wicket! 👏#PAKvENG | #UKSePK pic.twitter.com/J4ipbkSYBU

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 1, 2022

Duckett reached the milestone in his first Test after six years. He had made his debut against Bangladesh in 2016 but was dropped after only scoring 110 runs in four games.

Prior to reaching his third Test century in his 29th outing, 24-year-old Crawley of Pakistan forced bowler Naseem Shah to the cover boundary after reviewing a leg-before call.

The 6-foot-5, 1.96-meter (lanky) hitter made his intentions known early on in the game by slamming three boundaries in Naseem’s opening over of the day and reaching his fifty with a catch off spinner Zahid Mahmood.

He came up nine short of becoming the first batter in England to reach a century before noon.

Ben Stokes, the current captain of England, is one of seven batsmen to have reached the century mark in a Test before noon, but none have done so on the opening day.

Finally, Rauf, who took his first wicket on debut, cleaned up Crawley and caused his dismissal. In 111 balls, the right-hander scored 122 runs.

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Castled! 🎯

Local boy @HarisRauf14 gets his first Test wicket ☝️#PAKvENG | #UKSePK pic.twitter.com/iV7ExlLxF6

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 1, 2022

The Test, England’s first in Pakistan in 17 years, got off to the perfect start with their strong batting after it was threatened on Wednesday when several of the visitors fell ill with an unknown infection.

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