Resurgent Pakistan beat fancied England by 14 runs
Root, Buttler tons in vain as hosts fail in record World Cup chase
Pakistan beat England by 14 runs at Trent Bridge on Monday as the World Cup's first centuries from Joe Root and Jos Buttler were not enough to help the hosts and pre-tournament favourites overhaul the huge target of 349 set for them.
England had won the toss and put Pakistan in to bat, banking on the pace of fast bowlers Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer for early wickets and no doubt hoping to recreate the way the West Indies skittled Pakistan out for 105 on Friday.
Instead, the visitors put that woeful performance behind them and racked up 348 runs for eight wickets, delighting their cheering fans in the stands with 29 fours and six sixes.
Mohammad Hafeez was his side's top scorer with 84 off 62 balls, while Babar Azam made 63 and captain Sarfaraz Ahmed belted a quickfire 55.
"Everyone was believing we could do this. We were playing good cricket but not winning crucial stages of the game. Everyone chipped in today and gave everything which was required to win the game," Hafeez told the BBC.
"It was a total team effort. It is a very happy dressing room."
Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq delighted their vocal supporters by belting a string of boundaries off Archer and Woakes in an opening partnership of 82.
England spinner Moeen Ali finally broke up the pair, getting Fakhar stumped on 36 on his way to a three-wicket haul, while Woakes grabbed three more and also took four catches on a day when England were otherwise uncharacteristically ragged in the field.
Babar and Mohammad Hafeez steadied the ship for Pakistan with a partnership of 88 runs as the visitors set England a larger score than any side had ever chased down in the history of the competition. The best successful World Cup run chase to date came in 2011 when Ireland made 329 against England.
In reply, England steadily lost the wickets of their top-order batsmen Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes to leave the side on 118 for four and give Root and Buttler a mountain to climb.
The two did their best, each eventually reaching three figures. Root hit 10 fours and one six on his way to 107 before scooping an easy catch off Khan to Hafeez at third man.
Buttler smashed a four to notch up his own hundred a few overs later, only to fall to the very next ball.
As the balls-remaining count dwindled, Moeen and Woakes swung valiantly at everything they could. But after they were both caught out in successive balls, Mark Wood and Adil Rashid were left stranded at the crease as the target slipped beyond their reach.
| Pakistan Imam-ul-Haq c Woakes b Ali 44 F. Zaman st Buttler b Ali 36 B. Azam c Woakes b Ali 63 M. Hafeez c Woakes b Wood 84 S. Ahmed c & b Woakes 55 A. Ali c Bairstow b Wood 14 S. Malik c Morgan b Woakes 8 W. Riaz c Root b Woakes 4 H. Ali not out 10 S. Khan not out 10 Extras: (b1, lb8, w11) 20 Total:(8 wkts, 50 overs) 348 Fall: 1-82, 2-111, 3-199, 4-279, 5-311, 6-319, 7-325, 8-337 Bowling: Woakes 8-1-71-3 (2w), Archer 10-0-79-0 (4w), Ali 10-0-50-3, Wood 10-0-53-2 (2w), Stokes 7-0-43-0, Rashid 5-0-43-0 (1w) England J. Roy lbw b Shadab 8 J. Bairstow c Sarfaraz b Wahab 32 J. Root c Hafeez b Shadab 107 E. Morgan b Hafeez 9 B. Stokes c Sarfaraz b Shoaib 13 J. Buttler c Wahab b Amir 103 M. Ali c Fakhar b Wahab 19 C.Woakes c Sarfaraz b Wahab 21 J. Archer c Wahab b Amir 1 A. Rashid not out 3 M Wood not out 10 Extras: (lb3, w5) 8 Total: (9 wkts, 50 overs) 334 Fall: 1-12, 2-60, 3-86, 4-118, 5-248, 6-288, 7-320, 8-320, 9-322 Bowling: Shadab Khan 10-0-63-2, Mohammad Amir 10-0-67-2, Wahab Riaz 10-0-82-3, Hasan Ali 10-0-66-0, Mohammad Hafeez 7-0-43-1, Shoaib Malik 3-0-10-1 Result: Pakistan won by 14 runs Man-of-the-match: Mohammad Hafeez |
