Harry Brook's 202 Not Enough as England's 430 Falls Short in Lahore
Harry Brook scored 202 runs from 116 balls, the fastest double-century in one-day international history, but England could not defend their total of 430 in Lahore on 25 October. The match was the fourth of the Pakistan, England and Sri Lanka tri-nation one-day series, which Pakistan are hosting over two weeks.
A one-day international (ODI) is a 50-over match for each side. Each team faces the other twice in this format, so a strong result early in the round-robin can set up a place in the final. A win for Pakistan here would put them into the final with a game to spare, according to the Guardian's live coverage.
Pakistan's captain Shaheen Afridi won the toss and chose to bowl first. He said the surface looked fresh and he wanted to see how it played before his side batted. That meant England batted first, and Brook's innings became the centre of the day. A 430 total is a huge score in any format, and it left Pakistan with a steep chase.
Pakistan also made a late change to their squad. Maaz Sadaqat came in for the injured left-arm spinner Sufyan Moqeem. Pakistan wore pink instead of their usual green, raising funds and awareness for breast cancer.
The two sides have met before in this series. In the earlier match at Rawalpindi, England were bowled out for 215, and Pakistan won by 87 runs. Arafat Minhas took six wickets in that game, according to the Guardian. Brook scored five runs in that innings, so this match offered a very different picture of the same batter.
The conditions were warm. The International Cricket Council's match centre listed 28 degrees at Gaddafi Stadium, and the game was scheduled to start at 8am UK time.
For casual fans, the key number is the 430. In an ODI, batting teams try to score as many runs as they can in their 50 overs, and bowling teams try to hold them back. Chasing a big total means the batting side must score faster than the required rate for every over. That is why a 202 from one batter can change the whole shape of a game: it forces the other side to find something special just to stay in touch.
The result also shows how quickly the format can swing. England's batting had been strong enough to post the highest total of the series so far, yet a total of that size was still not enough to hold the match. Pakistan's answer to it will decide how the rest of the tri-series table looks.
Shaheen Afridi and Harry Brook will both be looking ahead to the next fixtures. Brook's innings is already in the record books, and the series now turns on what the two teams do next.
