Twitter Reactions: Harry Brook's century hands England a lead but Pakistan bowlers end on high note

After Pakistan were bundled out for 304 runs in the first innings on the first day of the third Test, England’s batters faced a tough time with the bat. The Ben Stokes-led side folded their innings on the second day with a lead of only 50 runs as Pakistan bowlers dominated the show. Abrar Ahmed and Nauman Ali finished with four wickets each as the hosts ended the second day on a high note.

England ended the first day at 7/1, having lost the opening batter, Zak Crawley, before stumps. Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope started off the proceedings on the second day. The duo shared a 58-run stand for the second wicket before Nauman Ali trapped Ben Duckett. England suffered another blow when former skipper Joe Root was dismissed for a golden duck.

It was then the 40-run partnership between Ollie Pope and Harry Brook, and the 47-run stand between Brook and Ben Stokes that kept England going in the game. Ollie Pope walked off scoring a well-made half-century, but Brook dominated a major part of the innings as he notched up a magnificent century.

After scoring tons in the first and second Test at Rawalpindi and Multan, Brook brought up his third hundred of the series playing at Karachi and also broke Alastair Cook’s record of scoring most runs against Pakistan in an away series. Alastair Cook scored 450 runs against Pakistan during the 2015/16 Test series in UAE, and Brook surpassed him to take his numbers to 468 in the ongoing series.

Skipper Ben Stokes was dismissed for a 33-ball 26 after a mix-up with Brook. But a 117-run partnership between Ben Foakes and Brook kept Pakistan bowlers on their toes. Even after the centurion was dismissed, Foakes and Mark Wood put up a 51-run stand for the eighth wicket which handed England a 50-run lead before they were bundled out for 354 runs.

Pakistan started the second innings a few minutes before the end of the day’s play. Shan Masood and Abdullah Shafique closed the day at 21/0 and will look to put up a good partnership on the third day. England, on the other hand, would be looking to restrict the hosts to a low score so as to have an easy chase later on.

Here's how Twitter reacted:

This is the best England test team to watch in my lifetime .. #JustSaying #PAKvENG .. they make playing Test cricket look like a game in the back yard .. loads of fun but mixed in with so much skill .. btw .. Harry Brook 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) December 18, 2022

Harry Brook - what a special special talent he is!!!! All formats. Gun 🧙🏼‍♂️

— Sam Billings (@sambillings) December 18, 2022

ANOTHER ONE!! 💯

Third century of the tour for Brooky, he's been a run machine!

🇵🇰 #PAKvENG 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/DsvuQkKcwv

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) December 18, 2022

Million dollar Baby Brook. What a player he is. Three centuries on Pakistan Tour.#PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/lF74YBWZL7

— Avinash Aryan (@AvinashArya09) December 18, 2022

Waqar Younis "back in the 1990s if someone hits a shot like Brook did for 4, you know what's coming next. The next ball wouldn't have been a juicy full toss like Wasim jr did. It should have been right up near his ears. That's what is missing from this Pakistan line-up" #PAKvENG

— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) December 18, 2022

Thrilling Test
Thrilling finish on the cards #PakvEng

— Abdul Ghaffar (@GhaffarDawnNews) December 18, 2022

Harry Brook has three Test hundreds in six innings, Mohammad Azharuddin had three in four innings but the two most surprising batters to reach three Test tons in real quick time will always be Ravi Bopara in eight innings and Azhar Mahmood in 10 innings. #PAKvENG

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) December 18, 2022

Abrar Ahmed, with an innings left, already has 15 wickets in his first 2 Test matches - the most by any Pakistan bowler. Fazal Mahmood took 14 wickets in first 2 Tests. #PakvEng

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) December 18, 2022