England defy the odds to seal remarkable series win against Pakistan

England’s second-string ODI side completed an outstanding series win with a 52-run victory against Pakistan at Lords.

With The Home of Cricket at maximum capacity for the first time since that World Cup final in 2019, Ben Stokes’ side looked to take advantage of the momentum they had built up from their convincing triumph in Cardiff.

However, after a delayed start which saw the game reduced to 47 overs, both Dawid Malan and Zak Crawley were dismissed for ducks having won the game for England with a partnership worth 120 runs last time out.

Malan edged into the hands of Shadab Khan in the second over, whilst Crawley was beaten all ends up by a Shaheen Shah Afridi yorker.

Therefore the onus was on Sussex’s Phil Salt to prove that he can make the step up to international cricket. He was joined at the crease by James Vince with the hosts at 21-2 after a shaky start.

A combination of Salt’s powerful hitting throughout the powerplay and Vince’s aesthetically pleasing strokeplay took their side into a position of strength after bringing up the 100 in just 13.1 overs.

Salt’s aggressive nature has already seen him earmarked as a potential successor to Jason Roy or Jonny Bairstow, and he brought up his maiden international half-century off just 41 deliveries.

Meanwhile, Vince lived up to his reputation of being one of the best drivers of a ball in the country and also played the short ball well. His second ODI 50 came from just 36 balls.

Their 97-run partnership eventually came to an end when Saud Shakeel dismissed Salt to pick up his maiden ODI wicket. Salt attempted to beat short-fine-leg with a sweep shot, but picked the wrong ball when doing so and was bowled.

Shadab would soon get the better of Vince too. The Hampshire man struggled to pick the leg-spinner’s variations during a splendid 21st over, and he picked up a deserved wicket after Vince tried to cut a ball into the off-side which was too full to do so.

The ever-impressive Hasan Ali then wreaked havoc amongst the England middle-order with three quick wickets.

Firstly, Stokes somewhat irresponsibly, looked to charge Ali but failed to connect with a big swing and saw his off-stump fly out of the ground.

John Simpson was next to go, Ali claimed his third wicket with a straightforward full-length ball which was played poorly by the Middlesex wicketkeeper on his home ground.

Just three balls later, Ali struck again with Craig Overton the next man to fall. The tourists were convinced that Overton had edged through to Mohammad Rizwan after he jabbed at a ball outside off-stump, but umpire Alex Wharf disagreed. Ultra-Edge proved that the Somerset man did indeed connect with the ball and England were left in a perilous position at 160-7

With Lewis Gregory the only recognized batsman remaining, there was a strong possibility that the hosts would fail to pass 200 when Braydon Carse arrived at the crease,

But alongside Gregory, the South African-born bowler demonstrated the skills that saw him begin his career as a batsman.

The duo manipulated Pakistan’s field brilliantly and picked up key runs whilst Gregory added boundaries to the partnership.

If being all-out for under 200 was England’s worry, Gregory and Carse eased those nerves. They took their side to 229 with a stand worth 69, before the former was caught at deep-square-leg after attempting a pull shot off the bowling of Haris Rauf on 40.

Carse would not last too much longer either. Rauf would pick up his second with the Durham man dragging on for an impressive first international score of 31.

Though it was Ali who would come away with the most credit, after picking up his five-for with the dismissal of Saqib Mahmood to bring England’s innings to a close.

Babar Azam’s side required a reachable 248 runs to win, but their chase once again got off to the worst possible start.

After a first-ball duck in Cardiff, Imam-ul-Haq fell for just one after edging through to Simpson off the bowling of the all-action Gregory.

Despite briefly showing his quality with a quick-fire 19, Azam became a victim to the dangerous Mahmood for the second match running.

The Lancashire quick trapped the Pakistan skipper LBW with a perfect length delivery which Azam played outside the line of.

Mahmood would also take the important wicket of Rizwan who feathered into the hands of Simpson from a good-length delivery that seamed away slightly.

Fakhar Zaman struggled to get going and he took 45 balls to register just 10 runs before he was clinically bowled by Overton to leave the tourists in a perilous position at 53-4.

Thankfully for Pakistan, it was a game of firsts for Shakeel. Having taken his first international wicket earlier on in the day, he would then go onto make his maiden ODI half-century.

Shakeel was ably supported by Khan following the dismissal of Sohaib Maqsood, but the tempo was raised when Ali arrived at the crease.

If five wickets were not enough, Ali then hit Matt Parkinson for three consecutive sixes during his knock of 31 from just 17 deliveries. Their partnership of 46 dragged Pakistan towards 200, but not close enough to the 248 needed.

Any hopes of a remarkable tenth wicket partnership between Afridi and Shakeel were diminished when the latter picked out Overton at deep-midwicket with a well-hit slog sweep.

Gregory took the final wicket of Rauf to wrap up another tremendous win for this England side and seal the man of the match award if he had not done so already.

It must be remembered that this Pakistan side had gone 12 ODI matches without losing prior to this series, but they have been brushed aside again in what is another sign of England’s white-ball depth. The bowling attack in particular is a dynamic one with the pace of Carse, the potency of Mahmood, and the consistency of Gregory.

Whilst as previously mentioned, Salt has shown he can fill a role at the top of the innings where attacking throughout the powerplay is a necessity.

Stokes and co will look to complete a whitewash at Edgbaston on Tuesday, whilst Azam will be looking to avoid the embarrassment of a clean sweep.

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