Alastair Cook bats for record 836 minutes, scores an epic 263

Abu Dhabi, Oct 17: England captain and opening batsman Alastair Cook batted for a record 836 minutes (4 minutes short of 14 hours) and scored 263 (528 balls, 18x4)) against Pakistan on the 4th day of their 1st Test here. The left-hander's marathon innings was the third longest in Test history.

Cook, on Friday (October 16), joined Pakistan's Hanif Mohammad and Gary Kirsten in the top-3 longest innings ever in the five-day format. He is the first Englishman to bat for that period of time (836 minutes). Earlier in 2011, Cook had batted for 773 minutes for his Test best 294 against India.

Mohammad had batted for 970 minutes against West Indies, scoring 337 at Bridgetown in 1958. South Africa's Kirsten scored 275 against England in Durban in 1990, batting for 878 minutes.

Thanks to Cook's record double century, England overhauled Pakistan's mammoth score of 523/8 declared. The 'home' team too had a double centurion in Shoaib Malik (245). The visitors ended day 4 at 569/8 in 201 overs.

The 30-year-old Cook had batted the entire third day (Thursday, October 15) at Sheikh Zayed Stadium and was unbeaten on 168. He continued in same vein on day 4 and he was finally dismissed towards the fag end of the day. His epic knock was ended by Malik. This was Cook's 28th Test hundred (3rd double) in his 120 match.

Longest innings in Test history in terms of minutes (Top 5)

970 minutes (337 runs) - Hanif Mohammad (Pakistan) Vs West Indies in 1958

878 (275) - Gary Kirsten (South Africa) Vs England in 1990

836 (263) - Alastair Cook (England) Vs Pakistan in 2015

799 (340) - Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) Vs India in 1997

797 (364) - Len Hutton (England) Vs Australia in 1938

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