The International Cricket Council has rated the Rawalpindi pitch used for the first Test between Pakistan and England as “below average”.

England won the match by 74 runs despite the pitch yielding seven centurions and 1,768 runs over the five days.

As a result, the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium has received one demerit point.

Andy Pycroft of the ICC’s elite panel of match referees said: “It was a very flat pitch which gave almost no assistance to any type of bowler.

“That was the main reason why batters scored very fast and both sides posted huge totals. The pitch hardly deteriorated during the course of the match.

“Since there was very little in it for the bowlers, I found the pitch to be ‘below average’ as per the ICC guidelines.”

It is the second demerit point given to the venue after the pitch used for the first Test between Pakistan and Australia in March this year was also rated as “below average”.

England, already 2-0 up in the three-match series, play the third Test at Karachi starting on Saturday.