ENGLAND sealed a world-record victory over Pakistan in their first Test of the series.

The hosts became the first side to lose a match in Asia after scoring over 500 in the first innings in Multan.

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Scoring over 500 runs in a first innings has been managed 102 times in the 735 matches that have been played in the subcontinent.

But England‘s rousing comeback meant that Pakistan were the first to taste defeat despite the strong opening.

Pakistan looked to be in a strong position after posting 556 all out thanks to centuries from Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood and Salman Ali Agha.

However, England managed to dwarf the innings in their response despite the absence of the injured captain Ben Stokes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett scored a respectable 78 and 84 but Joe Root and Harry Brook put on the main show.

Root, 33, hit a personal best of 262 to become England’s leading run-scorer of all time.

The batter now stands on 12,472 Test runs as he surpassed Sir Alastair Cook and is also now the fifth most prolific scorer in cricket history.

He is now just behind Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting and India legend Sachin Tendulkar.

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Brook, however, managed to upstage the record breaker as he smashed an incredible 317 off 332 balls.

The 25-year-old became just the sixth Englishman to score a triple century.

England’s incredible innings

Here is England’s scorecard for their huge innings against Pakistan…

Zak Crawley – 78, 85b, 13 4s, 0 6s, 91.76S/R

Ollie Pope – 0, 2b, 0 4s, 0 6s, 0.0S/R

Joe Root – 262, 375b, 17 4s, 0 6s, 69.87S/R

Ben Duckett – 84, 75b, 11 4s, 0 6s, 112.0S/R

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Harry Brook – 317, 322b, 29 4s, 3 6s, 98.45S/R

Jamie Smith (Wk) – 31, 24b, 2 4s, 1 6s, 129.17S/R

Chris Woakes* – 17, 16b, 1 4s, 0 6s, 106.25S/R

Gus Atkinson – 2, 2b, 0 4s, 0 6s, 100S/R

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Brydon Carse* – 9, 6b, 0 4s, 1 6s, 150S/R

Extras – 23

Total – 823/7 from 150 overs

• b = Balls, S/R = Strike rate, * = Not out

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Brook also became the first Englishman to score over 20,000 international runs across all three formats.

The pair combined for a partnership of 454, which is the team’s best ever and the fourth-highest wicket stand in the history of cricket.

Stand-in captain Ollie Pope will be majorly disappointed that he failed to trouble the scorers as he was out for a two-ball duck.

In total, England scored 823/7 before declaring on day 4 of the Test match with a lead of 267.

The innings are England’s third highest scoring in their history, only behind the 849 against the West Indies in 1930 and a 903/7d against Australia in 1938.

Pakistan returned to the crease with the aim of trying to get themselves into a lead or at least bat long enough to earn a draw.

Chris Woakes laid down a marker early on as his peach of a delivery dismissed Abdullah Shafique with the first ball of the innings.

Brydon Carse then impressed with the ball as he took the scalps of Saim Ayub and Muhammad Rizwan.

Gus Atkinson also helped himself to two wickets, but it was the spinning maestro Jack Jeach who was the pick of the bowlers.

Leach took the remaining four wickets, including an incredible caught and bowled off Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Abrar Ahmed did not bat in the second innings as he was absent with an injury.

Pakistan were, in turn, dismissed for a total of just 220 by the morning of day 5, which gave England a win by an innings and 47 runs.

As the final wicket tumbled, the Sky Sports commentator insisted that Pakistan will be wanting to forget this match in a hurry.

They said: “It’s all over, Pakistan lose this.

“And it is a world record in a win and a world record that Pakistan will want to forget.

“Scoring 550 plus to suffer a innings defeat for the first time ever in Test cricket.”

The second Test begins at Multan from next Tuesday with the final Test scheduled for Rawalpindi from October 24.

Pakistan captain Shan Masood hailed England after the result and claimed that his side should take inspiration from them.

He told Sky Sports: “Like I said, 220 in the third innings, depending on what kind of lead you have, can also be a good score.

“The trick for us is that we should learn from England as well, they found out ways to get those 20 wickets. You can’t win Test matches without taking 20 wickets.

“As a team, we have that second innings of batting to improve but we must also take 20 wickets.”

England bowler Carse was also full of praise for his team-mates as he waxed lyrical over the performance.

He added: “Awesome. The last five days have been a great experience and to top it off with a win, the lads are buzzing. Great result.

“All the guys: Rooty, Brooky, all the seamers, they all put in a massive effort and it feels very rewarding now.

“Credit to the guys in that group and the coaching staff, it’s felt as relaxing as it can be in there.

“It’s obviously been a challenge mentally having to come back each session but I’m thoroughly enjoyed it. A great experience.”

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McCall said new-look Sarries had room for improvement despite seeing off Exeter to remain the only unbeaten side in the division.

“The last performance we were more consistent throughout than we have been in the first couple of games,” he said.

“We’re happy with the energy, spirt and fight in the team. It’s a good sign and a good characteristic to have in a new team, but there is plenty to improve in our rugby.

“When you have got some new folk at your club and trying to establish partnerships and new relationships, the longer they are together the better.”

Samoan flanker Theo McFarland is not available after concussion at Exeter but Maro Itoje should start after training with England this week.

Tom Parton and Sam Spink remain a few weeks away but McCall said there was a chance Ollie Hartley could be back well before Christmas as his recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury was ahead of schedule.

BOLIVIA have moved to a stadium 2,000 FEET higher in altitude in a bid to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

The South American nation have always been difficult to beat at home due to their ground in La Paz being 11,940 feet above sea level.

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But three defeats in five games in World Cup qualifying left them in dire need of a result.

They sat second bottom of the 10-team table – prompting a major decision by the Bolivian FA.

In September, they decided to switch their final five home matches to the Villa Ingenio stadium in El Alto.

This is 13,615 feet above sea level – nearly 2,000 feet higher than their usual venue in La Paz.

They also appointed a new manager, Oscar Villegas, following the sacking of Antonio Carlos Zago in July after a disappointing Copa America.

And it seems to have worked.

After a 2-1 win away at Chile, they then beat Colombia 1-0 in El Alto on Thursday to move up to sixth in the table – the final automatic qualification spot for the World Cup.

They have not qualified for a World Cup since the US last hosted it 30 years ago.

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Following the decision to switch grounds, new head coach Villegas revealed it “is going to help us a lot”.

He said: “Soccer is made of details. It does not mean that with this [changing stadiums] we are going to win.

“We are trying to take care of details that can allow us to be more effective.

“In El Alto, we are going to try to be as intense as possible and to let them know that they are on a new pitch where we have been unbeatable.

“The psychological and emotional aspect also plays a role, it is something that is going to help us a lot.”

Bolivia‘s final four home games are against Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil.

Bowring was born in Neath and was a product of the Neath Grammar School.

He played a few games for the Neath senior side in the back row alongside his boyhood idol Dai Morris, the former Wales flanker.

Bowring spent nine years with London Welsh where he appeared in 268 games, captaining the club for three seasons and representing the Barbarians on three occasions.

A teacher by profession, Bowring hung up his boots at 32 when he took up a job at Clifton College.

His first taste of coaching had come as a 20-year-old when he worked with the Briton Ferry RFC youth squad.

Bowring became involved with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) set-up where he worked his way through the ranks, coaching the Sevens, under-21s and Wales B sides.

After initially being caretaker coach as Wales beat Fiji in November 1995, Bowring took permanent control and was in charge for 28 more games.

He was tasked with trying to help Wales cope with the move to professionalism and also integrating returning rugby league players back into the union set-up.

Bowring was seen as seen as one of the great thinkers of the early professional game and he wanted his national side to play in the traditional expansive way associated with Welsh rugby.

His reign as Wales coach ended after he resigned following a heavy 51-0 defeat by France in the 1998 Five Nations at Wembley.

After working as a lecture in Cardiff Met university, Bowring was appointed to his RFU role.

OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER has reportedly rejected the chance to return to management.

The Norweigian has been out of work since being sacked by Manchester United in 2021.

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Solskjaer, 51, earned the full time job at Old Trafford after a stint as interim manager in 2018.

However, despite a promising start, he was axed after two and a half seasons.

Solskjaer has now been offered the chance to take over the Denmark national team.

Tipsbladet reported that he was approached over the vacant role following Kasper Hjulmand’s exit.

However, it is believed that Solskjaer rejected the chance to have an interview with the Danish FA.

Had he accepted the position, then he would have had the opportunity to coach current Red Devils Rasmus Hojlund and Christian Eriksen.

The report claims that it is because he is already in “negotiations with a major club” over the head coach role.

Solskjaer has recently admitted that he would accept a role back at Old Trafford if the opportunity arose.

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He told media: “If the family [United] asks, I would say yes every day of the week.

“It feels wrong to talk about jobs that other people have now, but I would say yes, of course.”

The Red Devils currently have Erik ten Hag in the dugout, although he faces an uncertain future.

The Dutchman has come under pressure from fans and the Old Trafford hierarchy due to the terrible start to the season.

Ten Hag was the full-time replacement for Solskjaer after Ralf Rangnick‘s interim spell ended in the summer after the 2020/21 season.