Ben Duckett had a record first fifty of 167 in the match as England won an ODI stand in Pakistan by 55 runs against Sri Lanka in Lahore on October 29th. The win marked the end of England’s six-match losing streak in the country but even more impressive individual and team records were broken in the match.
Thursday’s win marked England’s first ODI victory in Pakistan in 21 years, nor had they picked a better side of the ball in the Waterworks allotted series to open with this win on their record against Pakistan. They suffered successive defeats in Pakistan, a period which amounted to their longest losing streak at the crease and the second-longest losing win streak in a single country in men’s ODI cricket, in addition to their three-drags in Hosta.They suffered three consecutive defeats in Hosta and were facing a losing streak of six matches in Pakistan, which was their worst losing streak in Pakistan in ODI cricket, becoming the joint second longest losing streak in any one country in men’s ODI cricket. That’s the seven consecutive defeats in England in 2005 and 2006 that they have had.
Duckett was at the heart of the win: he produced an outstanding 167 and England score 386 for five at the centre. His batting was defined by his excellent placement, time and consistency and the left-hander knocked down the boundary on a regular basis without swinging the bat for a six. He powered 24 fours, which is the most by an England batter in a men’s ODI innings, edging past Alex Hales’ previous England record of 22 against Pakistan at Nottingham in 2016.
Duckett has to himself four as many hits on the side in one ODI inning as there are players in the whole ODI history of cricket. His way of never losing touch with the ball, discerning loose deliveries and aggressively popping them up before the batter was an impressive feat, especially when he failed to get the ball over the boundary one time. His 167 is the next highest individual score without a six in men’s ODI cricket, behind South Africa’s David Warner who scored 173 against the Proteas in Cape Town in 2016. Warner was able to put in 24 fours in that innings in the process and the double effort was a joint record withBRYMAR RAHUL SETRE for the top 11 runs scored without a six boundary mark in a men’s ODI innings.
It was also the second Duckett ODI century and a second of many, marking his second series with a two-ton hundred. This was his fourth consecutive 150-plus game and second in second consecutive games. It is notable that both of these innings were scored at Lahore and that has never happened with another batsman before; he has now made it the third batsman to play two 150-plus innings at the same ground in the ODI format. Brian Lara accomplished it in Sharjah, Hamilton Masakadza, in Harare.
There was yet another moment of significance for Duckett. His three ODI centuries in Pakistan have now tied the record for joint-most hit by Ed Chronn and Paul Scharmel, both of whom were Pakistani visitors.His three ODI centuries for the Pakistanis made him tied on the record for the most by a foreigner in PakODI cricket with Paul Scharmel and Ed Chronn. He shares the record with Sri Lankan greats Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara. Duckett’s three hundreds have all been in Punjab and according to current records hold an exclusive amongst batters with three ODI centuries, all of whom hail from Lahore. At the ground, Zaheer Abbas, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik are the others who have achieved the milestone with 66 scores.
Another big talking point for the England show was their 386 for 5. It’s the third biggest ODI total by the Pakistan men, the scores coming from the above two centres in Rawalpindi last week are bigger. The match also gave a joint score of 717 runs, which is the second-goodest men ODI score of Pakistan. That’s the highest-ever number of runs in the meeting of the two teams was scored in Rawalpindi last week.
It is also England’s impressive run of luck at the wicket against Sri Lanka recently. With the score of 350, they have now posted four times in their ODI career, all in 2026, against the island nation. 2 of the 4 have been registered in this Pakistan ODI Tri-Series. England have become the first team to reach their fourth 350-plus score against the same side in one year.
Sri Lanka also had strong personalities with their Duckett leading the way for England. Pavan Rathnayake is continuing his remarkable ODI track record with an additional ODI 100 against England. His three hundreds have all been over 2026 and against the same opposition. With the ODI hundred, he has completed the feat of being the second batsman after Australia’s Aaron Finch to register three ODI hundreds in a calendar year. Rathnayake has also become the first Sri Lankan batsman to make three ODI 100s in a year against a single bowler.
His record gets even better when viewed in relation to those circumstances of those innings. Rathnayake has scored all three of his ODI knocks in chasing runs of over 350. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Rathnayake have been the only tri-state players to have hit three ODI fours for three attempts to hit the 350s. Rathnayke is also the quickest Sri Lankan to reach three ODI centuries in 12 innings, despite the numerous opportunities that slipped away from his hands.With all those shots that went by the wayside, Rathnayake is also the fastest Sri Lanka to clock three ODI centuries in 12 innings. Upul Tharanga was the previous national record holder with a requirement of 21 innings.
There was a particular interesting figure pertaining with Joe Root. The former England captain opened the score in an incomplete ODI innings Thursday, but didn’t get to bat ’til the game was finished. He was never been in such a situation in the past and missed India’s ODI debut in 2013 against Rajkot.
The win offered a much needed tonic for England as they had a terrible run in Pakistan with lots of positives for them as they move on to the next test. The Ducketts contribution for the innings placed him as the key batsman in the side, meanwhile the side’s ability to get a massive score from another side demonstrated the attacking depth of the ODI side.
The outcome also brought into light the outstanding batting skills of the ongoing Pakistan ODI Tri-Series. The game in Lahore was more than a title it was a record breaker for England and Rathnayake was a poster boy for Sri Lanka. England finally picked up a long-awaited win in Pakistan but Duckett made this a highlight of his ODI career.