Second-string England cruise past Pakistan in nine-wicket win

England’s stand-in ODI squad got off to the best possible start with a dominant nine-wicket win against Pakistan in Cardiff.

The foundations were laid through an impressive bowling performance, spearheaded by the dangerous Saqib Mahmood.

With Ben Stokes winning the toss on his return from injury, the hosts put Babar Azam’s side into bat. And from the get-go, Mahmood began to wreak havoc.

He dismissed Imam-ul-Haq with the very first ball of the day, despite umpire Richard Kettleborough initially adjudging the ball to have pitched outside leg-stump.

Stokes’ first major call as a limited-overs captain was a justified one with the ball pitching in line and going on to cannon into the stumps.

You would not begrudge any of England’s makeshift attack of feeling intimidated when coming up against the formidable Azam. His average of 56 from 81 matches is imposing, to say the least.

But from his first ball, Mahmood remarkably drew an outside edge from the Pakistan captain with a good-length delivery which angled away from off-stump. The Lancashire quick suddenly found himself on a hat-trick.

Lewis Gregory claimed the scalp of Mohammad Rizwan on ODI debut, with the Somerset all-rounder bowling an impeccable line tight to off-stump which saw Rizwan edge into the gloves of John Simpson, who took a first international catch in the process.

Mahmood trapped Saud Shakeel LBW for just five, which left Pakistan at 26-4 following the dismissal of their only debutant.

However, with Fakhar Zaman at the crease, there was always an opportunity to rebuild. The experienced opener looked in fine touch and emphatically punished loose deliveries.

He was joined at the crease by Sohaib Maqsood whose PSL exploits for eventual winners Multan Sultans saw him earn a recall to the squad.

Maqsood showed his power when cutting Braydon Carse for six off the back foot, and the duo looked good before calamity struck.

Just as their 53-run partnership began to prosper, Maqsood failed to make up his ground after being sent back by Zaman who searched for a single which was never available, with James Vince reacting well to claim the run-out.

Zaman failed to reach his half-century after he slashed a Matt Parkinson delivery into the hands of Zak Crawley at backward-point.

The tail failed to add significant runs to the scoreboard with Mahmood registering career-best international figures of 4-22 in another sign of England’s outstanding white-ball squad depth.

Shaheen Shah Afridi was the last man to fall with Pakistan all out for a mere 141.

Another ODI debutant in the form of Phil Salt had the opportunity to impress whilst opening the batting with Dawid Malan, however, the Sussex man’s stay at the crease was an uncomfortable and short-lived one after he edged to Maqsood at first-slip off the bowling of Afridi.

That brought Crawley to the crease, off the back of a dismal Test series against New Zealand and just three double-figure scores last 12 international innings.

Although a stroke of fortune on his ODI debut may have reignited his England career.

Hasan Ali beat the Kent batsman with an unstoppable yorker, only for the dismissal to be chalked off due to a no-ball.

From then on, opportunities were hard to come by for the Pakistan bowling force.

Malan continues to impress at international level, his knock of 68 from 69 deliveries was an assured one and full of confident shots. He never looks rushed on the biggest stage, which is such an admirable quality.

Those who have watched most of Crawley’s short career so far will not be surprised that he looked at home in the 50-over game with his attacking instincts on show. Whilst they will also be aware that there are not many better in the English game to watch when he is in full flow.

Strong off both the front foot and back, Crawley brought up his half-century off just 44 balls with his partnership with Malan worth 120 for the second wicket. They chased down the required total in just 21.5 overs to seal a convincing win.

A number of factors make the win so impressive. It has been 36 years since England put out a side with so few caps, whilst the group had only trained once before the match.

Take into account that Pakistan had lost only one of their 12 most recent ODIs and possess a top three with ODI averages of 50, 49 and 56.

Mahmood was deservedly chosen as man of the match. His brief international appearances have shown pace and potential, but this feels like a landmark moment in his career after combining that speed with accuracy, movement and awareness. He may well have his eyes on sneaking on the plane down under.

Eoin Morgan and co may have thought their fixtures against Sri Lanka were somewhat of a mismatch, but given the context and outcome surrounding this fixture, England -as we very well know- are extremely good at white-ball cricket.

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