MULTAN — The moment Pakistan realised things were not going to plan for them in Multan had come long before Brydon Carse clubbed his second ball in Test cricket for six to take England’s score past 800.

By then, the record books had been shredded by two extraordinary performances – and one monster partnership of 454 – between Joe Root and Harry Brook. Their assault on cricket had already left a trail of devastation in the annals of history.

Root had already overtaken Sir Alastair Cook to become England’s all-time leading runscorer the previous day, his unbeaten 176 at the close sealing a 35th Test century too.

Yet there was much more to come.

Highest England partnership for any wicket in Tests? Check. Highest stand for any visiting team in history? Check. Highest England total in Tests since the Second World War? Check.

First triple century by an Englishman in 34 years? Check, thanks to Brook’s remarkable knock of 317 that at one point threatened to overhaul the highest score by any Englishman – Len Hutton’s 364 he scored against Australia at The Oval 86 years ago.

It is no surprise that both Yorkshiremen posted their highest Test scores on a crazy fourth day of this first Test that ended with England’s bowlers threatening to storm to victory against a shell-shocked and shattered Pakistan. With the hosts six down, it will surely come on day five.

However, the most remarkable part of all this was the standout figure of 823 for 7 declared. This was the fourth-highest total in Test history and, for all English cricket fans under the age of 90, something they had never witnessed before.

Not since 1938, when a team captained by Wally Hammond posted 903 for 7 declared against Australia at The Oval, had an England team gorged themselves on so many runs.

i can reveal the key to this remarkable effort was a dinner between Root and Brook the previous evening when they ate a combination of local Pakistani food and pasta in the restaurant of the England team hotel in Multan.

The pair, whose partnership at this stage stood at 243, sat down immediately on their return from the ground after both had suffered in the heat that day.

Root in particular had gone through the ringer but he could sit back and relax alongside his friend and teammate safe in the knowledge both had already secured hundreds that had dragged their team back into this match after Pakistan’s first-innings 556.

The exact nature of their conversation was not revealed to i, yet Root, who always keeps a keen eye on statistics, would have been aware that both of them had a fair chance of achieving something remarkable on the fourth day of this Test.

England triple centurions

• Len Hutton – 364 v Australia, The Oval, 1938
• Wally Hammond – 336* v New Zealand, Auckland, 1933
• Graham Gooch – 333 v India, Lord’s, 1990
• Andrew Sandham – 325 v West Indies, Kingston, 1930
• Harry Brook 317 – v Pakistan, Multan, 2024
• John Edrich 310* – v New Zealand, Headingley, 1965

When England arrived at Multan International Stadium on the fourth morning following their 45-minute journey from the team hotel, it is understood there were no preconceived ideas about what would transpire other than a message from the leadership group that more runs were needed and at some stage they would need to be scored quickly to try and force the win.

Resuming on 492 for 3, England took 49 minutes to wipe off their 64-run deficit and take the lead. By this stage Brook had already passed his previous highest Test score of 186 and Root, dropped on 186, had already passed 200 for the sixth time in his career.

By lunch, a session garnering 166 unanswered runs, Brook had joined him in the 200 club and Root had brought up his 250 with a trademark reverse ramp. Master and apprentice, born 45 miles from each other in Yorkshire, were perfectly in sync. Pakistan’s bowlers were sunk.

At the interval, both were well aware they needed just three more runs to overhaul the 411 by Peter May and Colin Cowdrey that had stood as England’s record partnership for any wicket since 1957.

Graham Gooch’s 333 against India at Lord’s in 1990, the highest post-war Test score by an Englishman, was also on both players’ radar.

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Brook might have been dismissed in the first over of the afternoon session, dropped on 218 at midwicket off Aamer Jamal. But the partnership record was secured soon after when Brook swatted away the same bowler for a hard-run three.

From then the carnage ensued, Brook, 41 runs adrift of Root at lunch, threatening to overtake his partner before the latter eventually fell for 262 when he was trapped lbw by Salman Agha.

Brook was just two behind him at this stage.

Now it was the man born nine years after Gooch hit England’s last triple century in 1990 who took centre stage.

Amid a whirlwind of runs that saw England plunder 165 in 20 overs after lunch at a rate of 8.25, Brook breached 300. Amid a bravura free-scoring performance that saw him ransack 99 runs from 53 balls, Brook looked likely to not only chase down Gooch’s 333 but Hutton’s all-time highest individual score by an Englishman.

i was told that England, aware a declaration had to come sooner rather than later, were prepared to give Brook the chance to break both records.

Neither happened, the 25-year-old eventually caught at backward square leg sweeping Saim Ayub. But his batting pyrotechnics were the highlight of an extraordinary day.

The pitch in Multan may be flat – although Pakistan’s collapse proved the runs weren’t as cheap as first thought.

This, though, had not come easy. The stultifying heat – temperatures hit 35°C again on this fourth day – made this a gruelling exercise for England’s batters.

The ice packs, carbohydrate drinks, pasta and fluids that had revived Root at tea on the third evening were a running theme throughout this remarkable innings.

England’s dressing room might not have been quite like a hospital triage unit – but it wasn’t far off as the team medics rallied round to assist the players’ recovery in the face of dehydration and exhaustion.

Root and Brook will rightly steal the headlines and the plaudits. But this was ultimately a huge team effort.