Brook makes England's first ODI double century as side post 429-4 in Rawalpindi
Captain Harry Brook became the first England batter to score a double century in a one-day international when he made 202 against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi on Thursday. England finished on 429-4 (50 overs) with Brook 202, Joe Root 69 and Will Jacks 66 not out; Sri Lanka were yet to bat.
Brook's 202 surpassed England's previous highest one-day score of 182, set by Ben Stokes against New Zealand at The Oval in 2023, and his own prior ODI best of 136 not out, which was also made against Sri Lanka. After England lost their tri-series opener against Pakistan on the same ground on Tuesday, Brook had urged his batters to show more positivity and on Thursday provided the leading example.
The 27-year-old reached 200 from 114 balls, setting a new record for the fastest double century in an ODI and eclipsing the 117 deliveries taken by India's Shubman Gill against West Indies last month. Brook's 202 was the 14th double hundred in men's one-day internationals and stood as the 12th highest individual ODI score; he was dismissed on the final ball of England's innings.
Across a 116-ball stay at the crease, Brook struck 10 sixes and 21 fours. He scored only 13 runs off his first 24 deliveries, reached 50 from 42 balls and completed his century in 75 balls, then accelerated from 100 to 200 in a 39-ball passage.
Brook's innings followed contributions from his team-mates: Tom Banton made 50 and Ben Duckett 29 before Brook and Joe Root put on 159 for the third wicket. Root miscued to be caught for 69, after which England promoted Will Jacks to number five; Jacks and Brook compiled an unbroken stand of 185 from 79 balls.
Will Jacks produced a 25-ball half-century en route to an unbeaten 66 as England added 156 in the final 10 overs. Brook moved past Stokes' England record with a six whipped over the leg side off a full toss from Dilshan Madushanka and was dropped at mid-off on 185 in the same over.
Brook began the final over, bowled by Janith Liyanage, on 186; he hit the first ball over the covers for six, ran two twos, and reached the double hundred with a paddled-sweep while Jacks was already celebrating before the ball reached the boundary. Two balls later Brook skewed the final delivery of the innings into the hands of third man and left arm in arm with Jacks.
Among the statistical landmarks from the innings, Brook registered the highest ODI score by a batter who had not opened the innings and the fourth-highest ODI score by a captain. In six Tests in Pakistan Brook averages more than 80 with four hundreds, including 317 in Multan two years ago; as one-day captain he averages 56.04 compared to 25.2 without the armband, and in T20s he averages 47.57 as captain compared to 28.5 when not. Across formats Brook is only the second man to register a century in international T20s, a double hundred in ODIs and a triple century in Tests, following West Indies' Chris Gayle.
Sri Lanka were yet to bat.
