5 Talking Points of England vs Pakistan 2nd ODI at Abu Dhabi

After facing a humiliating defeat at the hands of Pakistan a few days back, England were desperately looking for a comeback and thankfully all its top-order batsmen clicked today and helped the team reach a respectable total of 283 for 5 in 50-over in the second one-day international at Abu Dhabi. English team won the match convincingly by 95 runs as they bowled out Pakistan for 188 only.

England lost their first one-dayer in a shocking manner, but they played an outstanding cricket today and put up a commanding total on board. Opener Alex Hales was playing at his best as the right-handed batsman smashed his maiden ODI century against Pakistan. Hales hit 109 off 117 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes before getting stumped out by wicketkeeper S.Ahmed off Iftikhar Ahmed.

1. Jason Roy and Alex Hales Partnership:

Winning the toss, England decided to bat first and the decision stood right as both Jason Roy and Alex Hales put up a solid 102-run stand in just 105 balls to provide a flying start to their side. Both batsmen kept picking up easy singles and boundaries at ease. Jason Roy hit a fine 54 off 57 balls with 8 hit to the fence. Unfortunately, Roy was dismissed at the 17.3 overs when he was caught by Shoaib Mallik off Riaz.

2. Alex Hales’ Brilliant 109:

English opener, Hales, has played beautifully today hitting glorious shots across the field. Right-handed Hales was dismissed for just 10 runs in the last one-dayer, but he came back strongly reaching the three-figure mark for the first time in his ODI career. Hales added 102-run stand with Jason Roy first and then again he built 114-run partnership with Joe Root to help his team put a commanding total of 283 runs on the board.

3. Wahab Riaz’s Wonder:

Wahab Riaz was absolutely wonderful today with his impressive bowling. The Pakistani left-arm-fast took the important wickets of Joe Root, Jos Buttler and Jason Roy but couldn’t stop England from scoring a respectable total on the scoreboard. Wahab Riaz’s final bowling spell of 10-0-43-3 remained a good one for Pakistan because he maintained an impressive economy rate of 4.3 runs per over while most of his other team mates were bowling with economy rates of more than 5-run per overs.

4. Pakistan’s Top Order Collapses:

It was important for Pakistan to get few big partnerships so as to easily chase down the England’s total, but Pakistan kept losing wickets frequently from the second over. The quick dismissals of Babar Azam (4), Mohammad Hafeez (0), Iftikhar Ahmed (5), Azhar Ali (22) and Shoaib Mallik (13) at cheap scores had completely devastated the Pakistan’s batting order and didn’t allow the team to make a comeback again in the match. Only Sarfraz Ahmed spent some time in the crease hitting a patient 64 before getting out.

5. Chris Woakes Amazing Spell:

English fast bowler Chris Woakes contributed well with the ball as he chipped in four important wickets in his 8 over spell. Woakes 4 for 33 was enough to put Pakistan under pressure and the Asian team couldn’t come out of it eventually getting all-out for 188 in the 46^th over.

The 3rd & Penultimate match of the ODI Series is on 17th November at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Sharjah. Catch live streaming at Cricketgateway.com