Twitter Reactions: Lewis Gregory guides England to series win in Pakistan ODIs

Pakistan were deemed favourites in their ODI series against England since the latter had plenty of newcomers in their ranks. However, the Brits defied every other odd and won the series 2-0. At the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, on Saturday, May 10, they won the second ODI by 52 runs. As far as the Men in Green are concerned, they bowled well, but couldn’t step up with the bat in hand.

Salt and Vince top-score

England’s start wasn’t a great one as Dawid Malan and Zak Crawley, who both notched fifties in the first game, couldn’t open their account. But Phil Salt (60) and James Vince’s (56) 97-run stand for the third wicket brought the Brits back into the game. Ben Stokes and John Simpson got starts before both got out to Hasan Ali, who went on to pick up a five-wicket haul in his quota of 9.2 overs.

The Brits lost the plot a wee bit on being reduced to 160 for seven in 27.4 overs. However, Lewis Gregory (40) and Brydon Carse (31) were far from throwing in the towel. The duo stitched together a partnership of 69 runs and guided the Three Lions to a respectable score of 247. For Pakistan, apart from Faheem Ashraf, all the bowlers were among the wickets with Hasan Ali stealing the show.

Pakistan slump

Pakistan made a rusty start to their run-chase, as their top four- Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Rizwan- perished with the score at 53. Fakhar played an uncharacteristic knock of 10 runs at a strike rate of 22.22. Sohaib Maqsood smashed a couple of sixes before falling prey to a short ball from Craig Overton. Shadab Khan scored 21 and looked good for a short while.

Faheem Ashraf got out to Matt Parkinson after Simpson showed a great presence of mind behind the wickets. At the other end, Saud Shakeel notched his maiden ODI fifty off 70 balls. But once he got out for 56, Pakistan slumped. Hasan Ali’s 31-run cameo also went in vain. Gregory was impressive with the ball as he picked up three wickets. Every other England bowler picked wickets.

Here’s how the netizens reacted to England’s win: