Records tumble as Shan hits ton against England

Opener Shan Masood hits his fourth ton of the career to put Pakistan in commanding position in first Test against England.

He struck 13 boundaries to get to the three figures and make way into records books on day-two here in Manchester. He is unbeaten alongside Shadab Khan on 114 and 43 respectively.

Shan resumed the inning with 46 runs to his name on Thursday. Initially, he started his innings at a very low pace following the departure of Babar Azam (69), who failed to add runs to his tally.

As far as records are concerned, he became the only second player to score three centuries in consecutive Test innings against three different countries after Vinod Kambli, who achieve this milestone in 1993.

He also joined the greats of Pakistan cricket by becoming only the sixth player ever for the country after after Zaheer Abbas, Mudasir Nazar, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan and Misbah ul Haq, to score three consecutive tons.

The left-hander also became only the second opener to achieve this feat.

The Karachi native is also the first Pakistan opener to score a century in England in 21st century. Last was Saeed Anwar who scored 176 at the Oval in 1996. Also, first oversea opener to score century in first innings of a Test in England since 2015, last was Australia’s Chris Rogers.

Shan is also third Pakistani batsman, and second opener, to score a century at Old Trafford, Manchester. Before him, Inzamam ul Haq scored a century here in 2001 and Aamer Sohail in 1992.