Record-breaking Root and Brook lead England to a strong 492-3 against Pakistan in 1st test

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Joe Root celebrated his record-breaking day with a resolute 35th century as England cruised to 492-3 on Day 3 of the first cricket test against Pakistan on Wednesday.

Root overtook Alastair Cook as England’s top run-scorer in tests to make an unbeaten 176 and his Yorkshire teammate Harry Brook compiled a spectacular 141 not out off 173 balls on a placid pitch of Multan Cricket Stadium.

The two have combined for a 243-run partnership, hitting 24 boundaries between them, and made Pakistan bowlers toil hard on a benign wicket which hasn’t deteriorated over the last three days.

England now trails Pakistan by 64 runs through its usual “Bazball” aggressive batting in 3 1/2 sessions, in comparison to the home team’s score of 556 over 5 1/2 sessions.

Root overcame cramps in intense hot weather to bat the entire day after resuming on 32. He also featured in two other century-stands with Ben Duckett (84) and Zak Crawley (78), who were the only wickets to fall in the first two sessions.

“It’s pretty cool being out there in the middle with him (Root),” Duckett said after sharing a 136-run partnership with Root. “One of the greats of the game and certainly greats of English cricket.”

Brook followed his 108 at the same venue two years ago, with another belligerent century as Pakistan couldn’t separate his pairing with Root even after taking the second new ball.

But Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie hoped his fast bowlers will not let England run away with a meaningful lead when play resumes on Thursday.

“If we can take a couple of wickets early and get into their all-rounders, we can build from there,” Gillespie said. “We still have a ball that isn’t too old. Our (fast) bowlers haven’t had a heavy workload … they’ll come back ready to go, and we’ll try to crack it open tomorrow morning.”

However, both fast bowlers Naseem Shah (1-87) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (1-88) were ineffective after hardly finding any reverse swing with the old ball. Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed also couldn’t find any turn of the hard surface, which had some cracks, as England plundered the leggy for 0-174 off his 35 wicketless overs.

Brook had a lucky escape on 75 in an otherwise flawless knock when Aamer Jamal’s short ball gently rolled back to the stumps but didn’t dislodge them after ricocheting off the batter's chest.

Root survived two leg before wicket reviews in a patient knock of 277 balls. Naseem was mighty close to getting the England star batter lbw on 168 and Jamal went for unsuccessful television referral before Root had surpassed Cook’s run-tally of 12,472 in the first session.

Root crossed Cook’s tally with a straight-driven boundary before lunch off Jamal to reach 71 and then completed his first test century in Pakistan with a reverse sweep after the break.

Brook was aggressive from the onset and didn’t hesitate to loft Abrar for a straight six as he raised his sixth test century - and fourth against Pakistan - off 118 balls with Pakistan captain Shan Masood running out of ideas to break the partnership.

Both batters didn’t give Pakistan any chance with the second new ball, taken in the latter half of the final session, as England scored at a brisk pace of 4.87 an over in a dominant day for the visitors.

Earlier, Duckett recovered from a thumb injury which denied him opening England’s first innings on Tuesday afternoon and smashed 84 off 75 balls before he was pinned lbw by Jamal when he came round the wicket to the left-hander in the second session.

England lost the wicket of Crawley inside the first half hour when he chipped a catch of Afridi after adding 14 runs to his overnight score of 64. Jamal pounced on the opportunity on a second attempt at short mid-wicket as Crawley tried to whip the fast bowler on the on-side.

But Root stayed calm and Brook showed plenty of aggression to take England into a dominant position.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

England's Joe Root plays a shot during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Ben Duckett plays a shot during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Joe Root, left, who is now England's leading test run-scorer. is congratulated by James Anderson as he walks off the field on the lunch break during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Joe Root, left, who is now England's leading test run-scorer. is congratulated by Ben Stokes as he walks off the field on the lunch break during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Pakistan's Aamer Jamal, center, celebrates after taking the wicket of England's Ben Duckett during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Harry Brook attempts to stop the ball during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Harry Brook plays a shot during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Harry Brook bats during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Harry Brook celebrates after scoring century during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Joe Root celebrates after scoring century during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Joe Root, left, and Harry Brook run between the wicket during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Joe Root, right, chat with Ben Duckett as they walk off the field on the lunch break during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Joe Root, left, and Ben Duckett, center, run between the wickets as Pakistan's Naseem Shah watches during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Ben Duckett, left, plays a shot as Pakistan's Babar Azam attempts to catch the ball during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi, center, celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of England's Zak Crawley during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Joe Root celebrates after scoring fifty during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Ben Duckett plays a shot during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Joe Root plays a shot during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Ben Duckett, left, and Joe Root bumps their fists to celebrate their hundred runs partnership during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Joe Root walks off the field on the lunch break during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

VAL d'ISERE, France (AP) — Olympic champion Marco Odermatt won a weather-affected men's World Cup giant slalom Saturday to earn his first points in the discipline this season.

Tough conditions with dense snowfall and flat light on the challenging Face de Bellevarde course worsened near the end of the race, causing Odermatt to lose more than three seconds on the fastest racer in the final run.

Still, the Swiss standout managed to just hold on to his first-run advantage and won the race by a small margin.

Austrian skiers Patrick Feurstein and Stefan Brennsteiner completed the podium, trailing Odermatt by 0.08 and 0.12 seconds, respectively. It was the first career top-three result for Feurstein.

“It was obviously one of the biggest fights we've ever had, I guess,” Odermatt said.

“I love this atmosphere, when it’s getting dark and snowy, like winter should be," he added. "This is exactly for me, I really liked the tough conditions.”

The three-time overall champion won the first nine of 10 giant slaloms races last season, but then had failed to finish the final event in March and the first two races of the new season.

“I never lost my confidence, I knew I’m still fast and I still can win races,” said Odermatt, who screamed in celebration and hit his chest with his fist several times after finishing.

“For sure, after not finishing the last races, I really wanted to do a good result today," he said.

With the win, Odermatt matched the career tally of Ted Ligety, the American GS specialist who won 24 World Cup races in the discipline between 2006 and 2015.

Only two racers in World Cup history have won more giant slaloms — Marcel Hirscher with 31, and Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark with 46.

Hirscher, the record eight-time overall champion from Austria who returned to the circuit for the Netherlands after his initial retirement five years ago, ended his comeback season last week after tearing his left ACL during a training run.

Several lower-ranked skiers benefitted from the changing conditions, most notably Luca Aerni.

Odermatt’s Swiss teammate was the last starter in the 62-skier field, just qualified for the second run in 30th position, and then posted the fastest time in the final leg to finish fourth, 0.11 seconds off the podium.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who earned Brazil’s first-ever World Cup podium in Alpine skiing and had moved atop the GS season standings last week, struggled on the steep middle section in the first run and finished 2.35 seconds off the lead, before he failed to finish his second and didn’t score points.

Henrik Kristoffersen dropped from second after the first run to fifth and overtook Pinheiro Braathen in the discipline standings. The Norwegian also tops the overall standings with 290 points, 10 ahead of Odermatt.

Thomas Tumler, who won last week’s race in Beaver Creek, Colorado, placed 25th and was 1.80 behind his teammate Odermatt.

The winner of the season-opening GS in October, Alexander Steen Olsen, sat out the race because of a persistent knee issue. He traveled back to Norway for treatment but was expected to return for a GS in Alta Badia, Italy next week.

Olympic slalom champion Clement Noel skied through a gate and slid off the course and into the safety netting. The Frenchman got up but remained on the hill and was attended by a team doctor before slipping down to the finish area.

The French team said Noel sprained his ankle and would decide about his start in Sunday's slalom on the same hill only after his warmup for that race. He won the first two races in that discipline this season.

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt celebrates winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom in Val d'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec.14, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, center, winner of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, poses on podium with second placed Austria's Patrick Feurstein, left, and third placed Austria's Stefan Brensteinner, in Val d'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec.14, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, center, winner of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, poses on podium with second placed Austria's Patrick Feurstein, left, and third placed Austria's Stefan Brensteinner, in Val d'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec.14, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, right, celebrates with third placed Austria's Stefan Brensteinner, after winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom in Val d'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec.14, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt celebrates winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom in Val d'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec.14, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

France's Clement Noel crashes during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom in Val d'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec.14, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Switzerland's Loic Meillard speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom in Val d'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec.14, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom in Val d'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec.14, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Livio Simonet struggles to keep his balance as he speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom in Val d'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec.14, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom in Val d'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec.14, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)