Razaullah: 'I was just enjoying myself'

But the smile on his face as he batted conveyed exactly the emotion he felt. "I enjoyed the standing ovation," Razaullah grinned later at the press conference. "I like to enjoy life and I was relishing the moment."

There were jovial references to the hundred he scored as an opener in first-class cricket. He had scored an unbeaten 58 in the first innings while playing for Peshawar, and asked his coach if he could bat higher. He was sent up as opener, and got to three figures.

"I was being selective with which balls to slog, but they all seemed within range," he said casually. "I wanted to take it as deep as possible. I wasn't scared of pace. I wanted to punish the balls from Archer that landed on a hard length. There's nothing to be scared of when you're playing for your country. I was just enjoying myself."

The speed of the bat, and the sound the ball made when it connected, was something to behold. While there were a number of plays and misses, as you might expect for an innings that high-risk, there were very few shots that didn't come out of the middle. So hard was the contact he broke two bats along the way, because once he connected, it sailed regularly over the fence, to the point that Razaullah effectively took the field out of the equation. England might have had several men on the hook for his slogs, but on a record-equalling nine occasions, they were spectators as it sailed over.

"My favourite ball [to face] is the short ball. I just believed in myself. I thought if I played 50 balls, I'd get a positive result. And thankfully that happened."