Shan Masood hits 100 against England, becoming first Pakistani opener to do so since 1996

KARACHI: Elegant Shan Masood became the first Pakistani opener to reach three figures in the 21st century in England when he achieved the feat on the second day of Manchester Test.

Masood scored the century by running two off James Anderson during the second session’s play to complete a hat-trick of centuries.

Saeed Anwar was the last Pakistani opener who reached three figures in England at the Oval Test in 1996. He scored 176.

The 30-year-old left-handed batter is the first overseas opener to score a century in the first innings of a Test in England since 2015 — the last one to reach a three-figure individual score in first innings of a Test in England was Australia’s Chris Rogers, who scored 173 at the Lord’s Cricket Ground back in 2015.

This is Masood's third consecutive three-figure innings, which makes him the sixth Pakistani cricketer to score 100 in three consecutive innings after Zaheer Abbas, Mudassar Nazar, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, and Misbah-ul-Haq.

He is also the third Pakistani batter — and the 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.

It is worth mentioning that Pakistan has never lost a Test match when an opener has scored a century in England. Fans hope the team will continue this tradition and end the Manchester Test on a positive note.