Young England batsman Zak Crawley, who played a mammoth 393-ball knock of 267 runs in the third Test against Pakistan, has forced the world to take a notice of him.
Among the many admirers that Crawley earned with his batting at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, Sourav Ganguly is one. The former India captain called the 22-year-old “a class player”.
“England have found a very good No. 3 in Crawley,” Ganguly tweeted during the innings.
“Looks a class player… hope to see him in all formats regularly.
Crawley batted for nearly five full sessions in the ongoing final Test of the three-match series against Pakistan and shared an epic 359-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Jos Buttler.
Incidentally, it was Crawley’s first Test century and his innings of 267 runs has now become the second highest maiden Test ton by a batsman. Indian batsman Karun Nair’s 303 remains the highest.
Crawley has also become the third youngest England batsman to score a double century and his 267 has become the second highest score by an England number three batsman.
Meanwhile, Crawley and Jos Butter almost batted Pakistan out of the game before James Anderson ran through the touring top-order batsmen on Saturday. Pakistan ended the day’s play at 24/3.
Resuming the day’s play at 332/4, the duo of Crawley and Buttler successfully dealt the first session of the day. The former was denied a chance of scoring his first triple century.
Crawley, who has been in the middle since the first session of the first day of the match, was finally dismissed by part-timer Asad Shafiq, getting stumped down the leg side. He walked off to applause from the Pakistan fielders and his teammates in the dressing room who were also up on their feet.
Buttler, who had made 152 off 311 deliveries, and Crawley’s stand was the joint sixth highest partnership of all time for England in Test cricket. England are leading the series 1-0 and are looking to secure a first win at home against Pakistan since 2010.
After Buttler and Crawley’s epic 359-run stand, Chris Woakes, Dom Bess and Stuart Broad put up a combined 53 runs before England captain Joe Root declared the innings at 583/8.
Buttler and Crawley’s stand was the joint sixth highest partnership of all time for England in Test cricket.