Harry Brook sets new ODI records with astonishing 202 from 116 balls against Sri Lanka
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Harry Brook wrote history on Thursday as he made the quickest 200 in a one-day international, and in doing so recorded the highest ODI score by an Englishman.
Brook ramped the ball down to the fine leg boundary to complete his double century off only 114 balls, hitting 21 fours and 10 sixes, and finishing on 202 as England scored a towering 429-4 against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi.
The England captain beat the previous quickest 200, scored by India captain Shubman Gill off 117 balls against the West Indies last month, while also surpassing England’s previous high score of 182, by Ben Stokes against New Zealand in 2023.
It was Brook’s fourth ODI century and underlined his status as arguably the current game’s leading all-format batter. He is only the second batter, after Chris Gayle, to have scored 300 in a Test match, 200 in an ODI and 100 in a T20 international.
“Harry brook is pound for pound the best player to watch for many many years,” the former England captain Michael Vaughan tweeted.
The knock left England in a strong position to notch their first win of the tri-series, after losing to Pakistan by 87 runs on Tuesday. Brook had said England were too cautious in the defeat by Pakistan, and he led their bold response.
“We didn’t manage to put their bowlers under enough pressure to make them miss and that’s something we’ll talk about,” Brook said after England’s opening game of the series. “I probably could have hit the ball a little bit harder.”
He started slowly against Sri Lanka, with only 13 runs from his first 24 balls, before exploding to life with an array of creativity and power, using the ramp shot on several occasions, including the moments when he brought up the 100 and 150 milestones.
It almost went under the radar that Tom Banton scored 50 from 51 balls, and Joe Root put on an important 69 from 66, before Will Jacks added a rapid 66 from 30 in the closing overs.
England play Pakistan and Sri Lanka again in Lahore next week, before the top two teams from the series go to the final on 31 October.
