Pakistan beat tournament favourites England in a thrilling run-fest at Trent Bridge, ending their 11-game losing streak, with Eoin Morgan slamming his side’s shoddy fielding display.
VIEW SCORECARD
Despite Chris Woakes taking a World Cup-record four outfield catches, England produced one of their worst fielding performances in recent memory, with Pakistan banishing memories of their calamitous batting display against Windies by slamming 438-8, headlined by Mohammad Hafeez’s 62-ball 84.
Spectacular centuries from Joe Root (107) and Jos Buttler (103) – England’s fastest World Cup hundred – were in vain as a pumped-up Pakistan, as unpredictable as ever, produced an impressive all-round display, with most of their line-up finding their groove as Pakistan won by 12 runs.
“We thought 350 was in our grasp,” England captain Eoin Morgan said after the game. “Joe, Jos kept up in the game. If we had put a partnership together earlier in the innings we could have got over the line.
“We were outfielded today – it was the difference between the sides. Our batting and bowling will go up and down, but our fielding must be a constant. It has cost us 15-20 runs. The difference was the fielding.”
After all the Jofra Archer fanfare, he returned figures of 0-79, with Mark Wood winning the speedster battle with 2-53, while Adil Rashid got hit out of the attack after conceding 43 from five overs. It didn’t help England’s sluggish over-rate either.
Pakistan end on a convincing 348-8 from their 50 overs. Can England chase such a big total under World Cup pressure?https://t.co/QeuEk4rP8f#CWC19 #ENGvPAK
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) June 3, 2019
Moeen Ali (3-50), who accounted for Pakistan’s top three, bowled very tidily, with Buttler taking a sharp stumping to dismiss Fakhar Zaman. Woakes took three wickets late on in the innings, but conceded 71 from his eight overs.
Imam-ul-Haq (44) and Fakhar Zaman (36) gave Pakistan early impetus, while Babar Azam (63) and Mohammad Hafeez (84) combined beautifully in the middle-order – the latter smacking two sixes and eight fours to fuel a strike-rate of 135.48. Skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed produced an entertaining cameo, with a 44-ball fifty, to put Pakistan in a commanding position at the interval.
VIEW SCORECARD
