Trust Pakistan to upset the form book at the Cricket World Cup.
The world’s most unpredictable team on Monday ended a run of 11 straight losses in one-day internationals by beating top-ranked England by 14 runs in a thriller at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
Set 349 to win, England got centuries from Joe Root (107) and Jos Buttler (103), but could not complete what would have been a record run chase at a World Cup and finished on 334-9.
Photo: Reuters
After fashioning their second-lowest World Cup total of 105 in a shambolic opening loss to the West Indies, Pakistan made their second-highest score in tournament history of 348-8 against England, the host nation and favorites.
England had also beaten Pakistan 4-0 in a one-day international series ahead of the World Cup and were playing on the pitch where they made two world-record totals since the last World Cup — 444 against Pakistan in 2016 and Australia last year.
It was typical Pakistan to rip up the script.
“We do a lot of hard work and we believe in ourselves, and we have faith we can win the World Cup,” Pakistan paceman Hasan Ali said.
“People are saying we are unpredictable, but we don’t like that,” Hasan added.
Why can’t they win the World Cup? After all, Pakistan captured the Champions Trophy against the odds two years ago in England, having also started with a loss before beating the hosts in the semi-finals and India in the final.
“I can only describe that it is total self-belief,” said Mohammad Hafeez, who top-scored with 84 off 62 balls to headline a return to form for Pakistan’s batsmen.
The pressure is now firmly on England, who got off to such a good start to their bid for a first world 50-over title by beating South Africa on the opening day of the tournament.
The two best parts of England’s game — their batting and fielding — fell short of their normal standards and they were always struggling to reel in Pakistan, especially after slipping to 118-4 in the 22nd over of the chase.
“We’ll have bad days, but I didn’t think it was that bad,” England captain Eoin Morgan said.
For a side that pride themselves on their fielding, England were ragged throughout Pakistan’s innings — the tone set by a misfield by Morgan in the first over.
Jason Roy dropped Hafeez on 14, which proved to be very expensive, and Root gave away a boundary in overthrows that took Sarfaraz Ahmed (55) to his half-century.
“It hasn’t happened a lot with us, but there were mistakes that we don’t normally make,” Morgan said.
It helped Pakistan make a fast start, with Fakhar Zaman (36) and Imam-ul-Haq (44) sharing an opening stand of 82.
Babar Azam (63) and Sarfaraz then added half-centuries, and it was only really Moeen Ali’s off-spin that was able to put the brakes on Pakistan.
Ali (3-50) took the first three wickets, the second of which saw Chris Woakes race 20m to his right before diving to take a two-handed catch to remove Imam.
It did not quite compare with Ben Stokes’ outrageous catch against South Africa, but it was a rare highlight for England, who conceded 99 off the final 10 overs to be faced with a very competitive total.
Roy was trapped leg before wicket for 8 and Jonny Bairstow motored to 32 before tickling Wahab Riaz behind.
Eoin Morgan (9) and Ben Stokes (13) fell cheaply.
A fifth-wicket stand of 130 between Root and Buttler — the World Cup’s first centuries — brought England back into the contest, but both players departed soon after reaching triple figures.
Needing 29 off 14 balls, England lost Ali and Woakes to successive balls from Wahab Riaz (3-82) and Pakistan ended up comfortably easing home.
“We were very disappointed we lost 11 games in a row, but one thing is very important: We believed in ourselves,” Hasan said. “We needed just a little bit [of a] kick and then we would click. We got the kick.”
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