'We didn't know what the record was' - breaking down England's brilliance

Batter Harry Brook said he and Joe Root "didn't know" the long-standing England partnership record they broke during an astonishing fourth day of the first Test against Pakistan.

Brook, who became England's first triple centurion for 34 years, shared a partnership of 454 with Root, beating the previous best of 411 made by Colin Cowdrey and Peter May 57 years ago.

It came as England posted 823-7 declared - the fourth-highest total in Test history - and then reduced Pakistan to 152-6 to close in on a remarkable victory in Multan.

"We asked each other what the record was," Brook told BBC Test Match Special.

"We didn't know what it was."

Brook's 317 was England's first score of 300 or more since Graham Gooch reached the landmark in 1990. It was also only the sixth triple hundred by an England batter.

The stand with his fellow Yorkshireman Root was the highest for the fourth wicket for any team and the best in Test history by a pair playing away from home.

They dominated the bowling, scoring their 454 runs in 522 balls. When May and Cowdrey put on their record stand, they were together for 1,140 deliveries.

"I think we keep each other going," Root, 33, said.

"We have a good laugh out there together. We have played a lot of cricket together whether it be for Yorkshire or for England. He does make you laugh, sometimes without even trying. He's fun to play with."

Brook added: "We didn't talk much at all.

"There was a fist pump in the middle. We were pretty tired - it was hot and tough work running between the wickets."

Root's 262, also his highest Test score, was one of relentlessness and determination.

He scored just 68 of his 264 runs in boundaries meaning the rest were taken by running ones, twos and threes in sweltering heat nearing 40C.

That was made more impressive by the fact, until being dismissed in the 286th over of the match, he had been on the field for all but eight deliveries.

In comparison, Brook crashed 29 fours and three sixes, once again showing his wide-array of attacking shots.

"Harry Brook has the shots of Kevin Pietersen and the rhythm and hunger of Joe Root," former England captain Nasser Hussain said on Sky Sports.

"That is a combination of two of England greatest players."

Brook, 25, eased beyond his previous best Test score of 186 before attacking further late in his innings. His knock also added to his five centuries in his previous 18 Tests and took his average to 62.50 - the third-highest of any player to have played 20 or more innings.

Root said: "He's got such a complete game: he can score all around the wicket.

"He plays seam well, spin well and high pace well, and that's a pretty good recipe for scoring runs.

"I'm not surprised at all in him going on and doing something special like that, but I don't think it'll be the last time we see him with a monster score by his name."

Brook and Root were helped by one of the flattest pitches on record in Multan.

Although it started to show signs of deterioration late in the day as England's fresh bowlers had their turn, the amount of swing on offer (0.63 degrees) is the lowest in any Test in Pakistan since the start of 2022.

The average amount of turn for the spinners (2.86 degrees) is the third-lowest in the same time period.

Overall, analysts CricViz gave the pitch a difficulty rating of 2.9, which makes it the eighth-flattest pitch for the first four days of a Test since such records began in 2007.