‘Clocked’ by a bouncer in Wellington, as culpable as anyone in the dismal Ashes defeat in Australia, pictured drinking in Noosa and found to have lied when apologising in Sydney.
Brook has had quite the winter.
This, though, was everything good about England’s white-ball captain. He batted at his destructive best.
Surprise greeted the sight of Brook walking down the steps rather than Bethell after Salt nicked off to Shaheen but the thinking was smart.
It kept the right-hander away from Pakistan’s five spinners on a turning pitch at the start of his innings and allowed him to take advantage of the powerplay fielding restrictions.
Brook faced three dots in his first five balls but then took left-armer Salman Mirza for a four and six in the second over.
He muscled a brutal straight six over long-on off while hitting spinner Mohammad Nawaz for 17 in the sixth, before nudging singles after Banton nicked off to Usman Tariq. The mystery spinner was Pakistan’s major threat.
At halfway, Brook kicked on again, crashing leg-spinner Shadab Khan for a perfect straight six. He scored all around the ground but those straight hits and his drives through the covers were particularly eye-catching.
He reached three figures with two more hits over mid-off – one for six and another a one-bounce four.
It made him the third man to score centuries in all three formats for England, after Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan, but more importantly it keeps them on course for a third T20 title.
