Twitter Reactions: 22-year-old Zak Crawley's maiden double century leaves Pakistan reeling in the third Test

In the third and final Test between England and Pakistan at Ageas Bowl, 22-year-old Zak Crawley hogged the headlines on Day 1 after smashing his maiden ton in the traditional format. Ruling out Pakistan’s chances to establish their dominance on Day 1, Crawley scored 171 as England finished 332/4 at stumps.

Crawly was also assisted by Jos Buttler as the duo stitched an unbeaten 205-run stand for 5th wicket. Resuming the innings on Day 2, Crawley amassed his maiden Test century to put England in a commanding position. Crawley also became the third-youngest player to smash a double ton for England in red-ball cricket. Len Hutton and David Gower are the first two names in the list.

Crawley and Buttler registered highest fifth-wicket stand for England in Tests

Along with Crawley, Buttler also strengthened England’s run flow by reaching his ton, putting Pakistan under pressure in the process. England have now ticked the 400-run mark on the back of Crawley-Buttler stand. The two also etched England’s fifth-highest partnership in Test cricket, leaving the Pakistan bowling force in dismay. It was Buttler’s second hundred in Test cricket, coming in over two years.

Twitter was flooded with applause for Crawley, who is playing in his eighth Test match. He was slotted in the side in place of vice-captain Ben Stokes, who went back home to attend a family matter. Kent’s Crawley has now cemented his place in the Test side in Stokes’ absence.

With Crawley and Buttler in the middle, England is looking to dominate all the sessions, strengthening their chances of winning the final Test of the series. Being 1-0 up, the hosts are vying to seal the series by clinching the third Test. After losing four wickets on 127, England’s innings has been steadied by Crawley and Buttler. Crawley is currently batting on 230, hitting 28 fours and a six so far, while Buttler has gathered 127 runs until now.

Pakistan bowling force has failed to break the dominant partnership on Day 2. Yasir Shah, who has scalped two wickets so far, has been their most successful bowler. Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah have scalped only one wicket each, failing to leave their mark at Ageas Bowl. To plunge more misery on Pakistan, Mohammad Abbas has remained wicketless so far.

Here’s how Twitter lauded Zak Crawley:

It’s going to be the nervous 210s for @nassercricket as Zak Crawley creeps up on @robkey612’s Test best 🤞#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/z3Iskd3WE2

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 22, 2020

200, a daddy knock, Zak Crawley!! And some English cricket history, the highest EVER England 5th wicket partnership in Tests, Zak and ⁦@josbuttler⁩ !!! ⁦@phoenixmg3⁩ 👏👏🏏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/5fQBTUlvxl

— Neil Fairbrother (@Harv366) August 22, 2020

Congratulations Z Crawley what a double century and @josbuttler for a superb century…Congratulations on making a record of highest partnership in England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 cricket history….Well played boys👏🏻👏🏻@ECB_cricket #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/ESJdv9XXRM

— Kamran Akmal (@KamiAkmal23) August 22, 2020

Zak Crawley (22 years 201 days)

– 3rd youngest England player with a Test double
– 2nd youngest with a Test double vs PAK (Gary Sobers 21y 216d)
– Youngest England No.3 to score a Test double#ENGvPAK

— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) August 22, 2020

The Zak Crawley development story shown by Rob Key at Lunch was lovely but how many young players have access to county facilities and coaches, or can afford a trip to Mumbai to learn how to play spin?

If anything, it highlighted how elitist the sport is in England.#ENGvPAK

— Kieran (@BerbaSpin) August 22, 2020

Zak Crawley converts his maiden Test century into a double century!

What a moment for the young man 💯💯#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/SZPpMcnjn2

— ICC (@ICC) August 22, 2020

The last Kent player to register a Test century before Zak Crawley was Robert Key in July 2004. It was then his maiden Test 100+ score, which he converted into a double (221).
Now 16 yrs later, Crawley also gets to his maiden Test 100, which is also a double! #EngvPak#EngvsPak

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 22, 2020

When you score your maiden Test double hundred, you care a damn about handshake protocols. Well played Zak Crawley. #ENGvPAK

— Shamik Chakrabarty (@shamik100) August 22, 2020

200 up for Zak.What player. Conversions are one of the most important factors to turn a player into an epic batter. He is having time of his life out in the middle 👌#PakvsEng

— Marina Iqbal (@MarinaMI_24) August 22, 2020

The last two England players to score over 2⃣0⃣0⃣ in the same innings as their maiden Test century 🙌

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #SuperKent150 pic.twitter.com/iUnQC458X0

— Kent Cricket (@KentCricket) August 22, 2020

👏 CRAWLEY BEATS KEY! 👏

Crawley is all smiles after going past his mentor @robkey612's Test-best score of 2️⃣2️⃣1️⃣

"Pakistan players are going 'who on earth is Roby Key?'" 🤣

📺 Watch #ENGvPAK live 👉 https://t.co/oAO0jpke3A
📱 Blog 👉 https://t.co/qkqHq1w5IC pic.twitter.com/ppXMGYAvZi

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 22, 2020

Zak Crawley's Test best score is now higher than…

Andrew Strauss
Michael Vaughan
Michael Atherton
Alec Stewart
Marcus Trescothick
David Gower

Oh, and Rob Key.#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/QmmZzI3ntA

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 22, 2020