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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Matthew Cooper

Jos Buttler lauds "dominant" Zak Crawley as he makes history for England with ton

Zak Crawley scored the fastest Test hundred by an England opener, reaching three figures off just 86 balls against Pakistan to break a 32-year old record held by Graham Gooch.

Back in 1990, Gooch scored a 95-ball hundred against India at Lord's, having already struck 333 in the first innings. But Crawley has now eclipsed his record with an electric innings in Rawalpindi that contained 21 boundaries.

The 24-year-old was on the attack from ball one after England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bat first, with Crawley striking 14 off the first over from Naseem Shah - their most in a Test innings this century.

He took the lead in a superb opening partnership with Ben Duckett worth 233 runs, with Crawley bringing up his half-century off just 36 balls while Duckett's came at a slightly more sedate run a ball.

And England's T20 World Cup winning captain Jos Buttler was full of praise for Crawley and Duckett, telling Sky Sports : "It couldn't get much better than that, could it? It was fantastic to see the ease with which they scored boundaries all around the wicket.

"Zak dominated to start with and Duckett got into his stride as well. For their confidence as a new opening partnership, it can't get any better."

Crawley missed out on scoring a hundred before lunch, going into the break on 91, and survived an lbw scare on 99 before bringing up his century with a four through the covers. And while he struck the fastest Test century by an England opener, Duckett claimed the third-fastest when he reached the landmark off 105 balls.

Crawley's new opening partner Ben Duckett also scored an excellent hundred (Philip Brown/Popperfoto/Popperfoto via Getty Images)

It is Duckett's first century for England, having returned to the Test side after a six-year absence and getting the nod ahead of Keaton Jennings. And former England captain Michael Atherton was delighted to see him cash in on a flat pitch.

"I'm really pleased for Ben Duckett," Atherton said. "I was there six years ago when he made his Test debut in Bangladesh and remember thinking at the time 'Blimey, I'm glad I didn't have to make my Test debut in those conditions!'

"They were two really tricky pitches in Chittagong and Dhaka with the ball really spinning viciously. He's got a chance now - on the other extreme, the flattest pitch you could possibly imagine. It's a wonderful opportunity for him to kind of get his Test career up and running."

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