Southampton Test: Zak Crawley hits maiden Test hundred vs Pakistan in series decider

While all the spotlight was on Joe Root, England batsman Zak Crawley stole the show on Day 1 of the ongoing 3rd Test against Pakistan at Rose Bowl in Southampton. Crawley brought up his maiden Test hundred, second consecutive fifty-plus total in the 3-match series vs Pakistan.

Zak Crawley, at 22, has become the fifth-youngest Test centurion for England since the dawn of the new millenium. Ahead of him are Alastair Cook, Ollie Pope, Joe Root and Ben Stokes.

Notably, Crawley became the first England No.3 to make a Test century since Jonny Bairstow in 2018 and Joe Root in 2016. Playing his eighth Test match, Crawley’s previous best score was 76 against the West Indies at the same ground in Southampton last month.

The moment Creepy reached his maiden Test century!

Scorecard/Videos: https://t.co/JVsNai1pz8#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/FtndOrCotw

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 21, 2020

After winning the toss and electing to bat, England were teetering at 127 for four before the pair steadied the innings, with Crawley sounding his intention with a four from his first delivery.

Pakistan had early success when struggling England opener Rory Burns (6) was caught at third slip by Shan Masood off the bowling of seamer Shaheen Afridi. He now has just 20 runs in four innings in this series.

Dom Sibley (22) was trapped leg before wicket by wily leg-spinner Yasir Shah (2-60), who was introduced after 10 overs of the innings on the dry wicket and found immediate turn.

He also accounted for Ollie Pope (3), a quicker delivery pinning the middle-order batsman on the back foot and clattering into his stumps.

Before that, home captain Joe Root (29) looked well set before he received a super delivery from 17-year-old seamer Naseem Shah that caught his outside edge as it jagged away and provided a catch for wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.

England have made one change from the drawn second test, restoring fast bowler Jofra Archer to the side in the place of Sam Curran, while Pakistan are unchanged in their quest to snatch a draw in the series.

England won the first Test in Manchester by three wickets