Pakistan vs England 2nd ODI Review: England thrashes Pakistan to level the series

The English team entered this match looking for their first win on the tour and they delivered a clinical performance in batting and bowling to annihilate the Pakistan Team in this second one-dayer to level the series. Despite the loss in the first game, the England team fielded the same eleven while Pakistan made two changes in their team as Bilal Asif made way for Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammed Rizwan replaced the retired Younis Khan.

Earlier, England won the toss and opted to bat. Contrary to the first game, openers Jason Roy and Alex Hales attacked the opposition bowlers and gave their team a flying start. Both of them milked the Pakistani bowlers all around and added 102 runs in 17.2 overs for the first wicket before Roy was caught by Shoaib Malik on the bowling of Wahab Riaz. He contributed 54 runs.

After the demise of Roy, Joe Root and Alex Hales carried on the good work and added runs comfortably. At one point, England looked in total control of the game when they were scoring easily in the middle overs. The Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah was taken apart by this English duo who hit him for 70 runs in just 9 overs and it was looking like they would make a score in access of 300 comfortably. During their partnership, Alex Hales completed his maiden ODI century and Root completed his 50. This 114 run partnership was broken by Iftikhar Ahmed when he dismissed Hales for a score of 109.

With 11 overs to go and England placed at 216 runs, it was a perfect platform for someone like Eoin Morgan who could now play his natural game and take England to a huge score. But some brilliant bowling display by the Pakistani pace bowlers in the final overs never allowed the England batsmen to up their ante. Soon Root perished to a slower one by Wahab who was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan (he took 3 wickets) in the game and deceived the Englishmen through his variations. Some good and disciplined bowling from him, Irfan and Anwar Ali meant that England had to settle for a total of 283. Pakistan bowled superbly in the final overs as the English scored below 6 an over in the last 10 and as they restricted England under 300, now it was up to their batsmen to chase this.

What followed next was a disappointing performance from the Pakistani batting line up. They were off to a disastrous start as the last match’s contributors Babar Azam and centurion Mohammed Hafeez were dismissed cheaply by the wily left-arm quick David Willey. In fact, both the English pace bowlers Willey and Topley were successful in troubling the Pakistani batsmen so much so that they could add just 19 runs in 10 overs.

With the kind of start Pakistan got, they needed some sort of rebuilding and a player who could play an anchor role to chase this score. But alas! it never happened for Pakistan as their wickets kept tumbling. After Willey, it was now the turn of Chris Woakes to cause damage in the Pakistani middle order who took 3 wickets. The British bowled some accurate line, lengths and did not allow the Pakistanis to rotate the strike. Add to that, the scoreboard pressure had Pakistan reeling at 50-5.

It now needed a humongous effort from the lower middle order of Pakistan to turn the tables and have some chance of winning the game. But 30 runs later, another wicket fell and Pakistan were now 6 down for just 80. Anwar Ali joined Sarfraz Ahmed in the middle and both of them showed some respite by adding 65 runs for the 7th wicket. When Anwar Ali got out to Moeen Ali, the required run rate was already over 11 and only a miracle could win it for Pakistan. The Pakistani wicketkeeper Sarfraz scored a gritty 64 and had some useful partnerships with the tail, but it wasn’t enough as Pakistan was bundled out for 188 and England won the game by 95 runs.

Summary

England were the better side today. Firstly, they batted well and gave a respectable total for their bowlers to defend though it has to be said that they failed to score as many as they would have wanted in the final 10. But their bowlers delivered and Pakistan succumbed as they couldn’t handle the pressure created by some accurate bowling from the English man. They would look to carry on the momentum in the next game. As for Pakistan, their bowlers did get them back in the game but their batting was a major disappointment and once again questioned Pakistan’s ability to chase totals greater than 250. As unpredictable as they are, one never knows what game they will deliver in the next game but this English win ensures that the ODI series remains a closely fought one.

Brief scores

England – 283-5 (Hales 109, Roy 54, Root 63; Riaz 3-43)

Pakistan – 188 (Sarfraz 64, Anwar 23; Woakes 4-33, Willey 3-25)

Alex Hales is the Man of the Match

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