PAK vs ENG: England lived up to expectations of Stokes, McCullum on amazing first day - Pope

Top-order batter Ollie Pope said England 'lived up to' the expectations of captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

The opening day of the first Test series was also historic for England as they became the first team to amass 500 runs on the first day.

After centuries from Pope, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, and Harry Brook, the touring party ended the day with 506-4 in 75 overs.

"We really listened to what Baz [McCullum] and Stokesy have said. It was an amazing day. The best thing is everyone has lived by how the two guys up top want us to play. They want us to entertain people," Pope said.

"It is not about milestones. It is about putting on a show and putting the team in a good position. The fact everyone is so happy to buy into that puts us in a really good place."

The series marked England's first foreign assignment since Stokes and McCullum were hired earlier this year.

The pair adopted a fresh, aggressive strategy in the summer, winning six of their seven Test matches against South Africa, New Zealand, and India.

However, they went above and beyond that by crushing Pakistan's bowling on a flat surface, breaking Australia's previous mark of 494 runs against South Africa in 1910 for runs scored on the first day of a Test.

Meanwhile, Pakistan coach Saqlain Mushtaq said the hosts' bowlers didn't execute the plans properly.

"Our bowlers didn't bowl according to the plan. Pitch was also not favoring us. But, credit also goes to England, the way the played and outclassed us today," he said.

Brook (101*) and skipper Ben Stokes (34*) will resume play for the visitors on day two of the opening Test.

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