England have returned to the Bazball mode as they smashed the Test record for the fastest team fifty during Day 1 of the second Test against the West Indies at Nottingham on Thursday.
Sent into bat by West Indies, England raced to 50 in only 26 balls (4.2) overs, surpassing the previous recorded instant of a 27-ball fifty by them against South Africa at the Oval in 1994.
Left-handed opener Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope set up a rapid partnership despite Zak Crawley’s dismissal for a three-ball duck in the first over. The duo smashed 10 fours on their way to the record.
Back-to-back-to-back-to-back boundaries 😍
🔥 @BenDuckett1 pic.twitter.com/9IqzPtdwra
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 18, 2024
Duckett then sped to his fifty in only 32 balls to record the quickest Test half-century by an England opener. At the end of first hour, England compiled 86 runs in one hour at the loss of one wicket. England’s quickest recorded team hundred also came in the Oval Test in 1994 where they reached the three-figure mark in only 13.3 overs in the fourth innings of a 205-run chase.
India hold the record for the quicket team 100 overall, having reached the landmark in only 12.2 overs against the West Indies in Port of Spain in 2023.
Led by Ben Stokes and the ‘Bazball’ attacking philosophy, England have recorded six completed Test innings with a run-rate above 5 runs per over since 2022 – the most among all teams in Test history.
Fastest team 50s in recorded Test cricket
4.2 – England vs WI, Nottingham, 2024
4.3 – England vs SA, The Oval, 1994
4.6 – England vs SL, Manchester, 2002
5.2 – Sri Lanka vs PAK, Karachi, 2004
5.3 – India vs ENG, Chennai, 2008
5.3 – India vs WI, Port of Spain, 2023
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