The one thing constant in the turmoil that is known as Pakistan cricket is Misbah-ul-Haq. Once again he proved how important he is to this fragile Pakistan batting line-up by compiling a masterful century in his first Test innings in England, at the age of 42. He received good company from Asad Shafiq who scored 73 while putting up 148 for the fifth wicket before falling in the far end of the day. Stat highlights from Day One of the England-Pakistan Test at Lord’s:
7 Tosses won in consecutive Tests by Misbah-ul-Haq. He equals a Pakistan captain’s record for most consecutive tosses won with Intikhab Alam, who also won seven between January 1973 and August 1974.
At 42 years & 47 days, Misbah is the oldest visiting player to play a Test on English soil in the last 31 years. The previous oldest was Somachandra de Silva of Sri Lanka, who was 42 years & 73 days old when he played against England at Lord’s in 1984.
40 by Mohammad Hafeez is his second highest score in 28 innings outside the sub-continent. The only higher score he made was 95 at the Oval in 2006 against England, which incidentally was his first innings outside Asia.
21 Fifty-plus stands between Younis Khan and Misbah in 44 innings in Tests, joint second-highest with Younis and Mohammad Yousuf. Only Inzamam-ul-Haq-Mohammad Yousuf pair has more fifty-plus stands for Pakistan – 23 in 57 innings.
6 Number of times Stuart Broad has dismissed Younis Khan in Tests. Only Rangana Herath has dismissed him more times in Tests – 8 – while Dale Steyn has accounted for him on six occasions.
10 Misbah now has at least one fifty-plus score in ten countries, including UAE. The only country where he has failed to score one is Pakistan, where his highest score is 42 after five Tests.
7 Hundred partnerships between Misbah and Asad Shafiq in 33 innings for the fifth wicket – most by a pair in Tests, eclipsing six by Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. Three of those have come against England in seven innings.
0 Number of players older than Misbah to score a century as captain. He broke Bob Simpson’s long-standing record of 41 years & 361 days against India at Adelaide in 1978, as the oldest to score a Test century as captain.
8 Hundreds scored by Misbah while leading Pakistan – the most by any. He overtakes Inzamam-ul-Haq’s record of seven hundreds as captain of Pakistan.
7 Players scoring hundreds aged 42 or more. While Jack Hobbs has seven, Warren Bardsley, Pasty Hendren, Eric Rowan, Frank Woolley, Dave Nurse and Misbah have one each. The last instance of a player aged 42 or more scoring a hundred came in 1951 when Eric Rowan scored 236 against England at Leeds.
110* by Misbah is the highest by a Pakistan player in his maiden innings at Lord’s. He broke Asif Iqbal’s record of 76 scored in 1967. Asad Shafiq’s 73 is the joint fourth-highest after Saed Anwar’s 74 in 1996 and Aamer Sohail’s 73 in 1992.
7 Pakistan players scoring hundred at Lord’s, Misbah being the seventh. The other Pakistan captains to achieve this feat were Javed Burki (101 in 1962) and Hanif Mohammad (187* in 1967).
3 Pakistan players scoring a century in England in their maiden innings as captain. The ones to do it before Misbah were Hanif Mohammad (187* at Lord’s in 1967) and Javed Miandad (153* at Birmingham in 1992).
4 for 45 is Chris Woakes’ best bowling figures in an innings in Tests. The previous best was 3 for 9 against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street in the preceding series.
