World Cup 2019: Sania Mirza congratulates Pakistan after making a strong comeback

Pakistan did justice to their “unpredictable” tag once again after producing two contrasting performances in the ongoing ICC World Cup. After getting thrashed by the Windies by 7 wickets in the first match, Sarfaraz Ahmed’s men came back strongly in their second match to beat a formidable England by 14 runs. The victory did Pakistan’s net run-rate a world of good as well as they pulled themselves up to the sixth position in the table from the last.

The special thing about Pakistan’s victory over England at Trent Bridge on Monday is that the Men in Green came out with a completely different batting display in comparison with that against the Caribbeans. While Pakistan were all out for a paltry 105 at the same venue against the Windies, they posted 348 for 8 against England who beat South Africa by 104 runs in their first game.

Shoaib Malik picked the all-important wicket of Ben Stokes

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, the wife of Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik, congratulated the Pakistani side for making a strong comeback and opening up the battle for the World Cup. The 32-year-old who turned mother last year, also congratulated Pakistan for continuing to be an unpredictable side, something skipper Sarfaraz felt works in favour of his team.

Malik, who is playing his final World Cup at 37, scored eight runs and took the prized wicket of Ben Stokes, who made a major contribution and finished as the man of the match against the Proteas.

Congratulations to Team Pakistan on bouncing back the way they did and being as unpredictable like it always is !!! @cricketworldcup got more interesting than it already was ????????

— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) June 3, 2019

England came up with a brave chase with two of their top batsmen – Joe Root and Jos Buttler – scoring hundreds. However, the duo’s dismissals at critical moments saw the game slipping out of England’s hand and the hosts ended up with 334 for 9 in 50 overs. It would have been the highest chase at the World Cup had the Three Lions managed to knock off those last few runs.

Mohammad Hafeez, the other veteran of the Pakistani side playing in his final World Cup, was the man of the match for scoring 84 off 62 balls and taking the important wicket of England captain Eoin Morgan. Pakistan next play Sri Lanka in Bristol on June 7.