England v Pakistan 5th ODI at Headingley

Royal London England v Pakistan 5th ODI at Headingley

Neil Whitaker reports

ENGLAND finished their Royal London one-day series with 54 run victory over Pakistan with 3.1 overs to spare at Emerald Headingley to win the series 4-0.

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur said: “Our fielding has been dissapointing and that’s been the difference between the sides, it’s a real worry for me. We are putting in a lot of effort but not getting any rewards.  Fielding is about attitude and wanting to go out there and get it done, the lads know where they are short and they are not happy about it.

We have taken a lot of positives from the series, our batting is doing well but our fielding and bowling are a concern.  We have played against the number one team in the world in their own conditions. We have got a couple of days to regroup and the players are very determined to do well  in the World Cup.”

England posted their highest one-day score against Pakistan at Emerald Headingley of 351 with Joe Root top scoring with 84 and skipper Eoin  Morgan hit 76.  At one stage it looked like they would pass the 400 mark with ease after the blistering start they made.

For the fourth time in the series England won the toss but this time decided to bat. James Vince hit the first two balls of the match from Hassan Ali for boundaries.  After that start the runs came easy for Vince and Jonny Bairstow and for the fourth time in this series the openers passed 50 for the first wicket.  Vince needing a big score to cement his place in the World Cup squad looked set for that score  until he top edged a pull off  Saheen Shah Afridi and the ball fell in the lap of Fakhar Zaman running from deep mid wicket.

Bairstow who was out paced by both his partners seemed to lose patience and clubbed Imad Wasim  to Afridi at long on. After the departure of Bairstow,the boundaries eased as Pakistan operated with three spinners, Root hit six boundaries early in his innings when he reached his 50 he had hit only more. He swept Fakhar to the mid wicket boundary to bring up his 50 from 37 balls with seven fours.

Morgan lofted Fakhar over long off for his first six, in the next over he smacked Shoaib Malik over mid wicket into the for another six.  He pulled Mohammad Hasnain for his third six, which was bigger, over fine leg.  The ball dropped on to the tarmac and bounced up on to the roof of the old pavillion breaking a tile in the process. Morgan brought up his 50, which included three fours and three sixes, with a cover drive off Hasain.

Still the sixes came he went down the wicket to Imad and smacked him over wide long on for another.  He drove Imad through long off for his final six which was caught in the crowd. In the next over he miscued a pull off Afridi and Abid Ali ran round from mid off to cover to take the catch.

As so often happens  a wicket was taken in three first over after drinks.  Root miscued a pull off Hasnain to Asif Ali  on the square leg boundary on the longest part of the ground. Root’s dismissal started a mini collapse. Jos  Buttler cut Imad to Abid Ali  at point, with his next ball he trapped Moeen Ali leg before for his second duck in his last three England innings.

Both Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes died by their sword going for the big hits.  First Woakes chipped Afridi to Babar at mid off.  In the next over Stokes had a big swing  at Hasan Ali and found Fakhar on the long on boundary.

With two wickets standing there was a fear that after their start that they wouldn’t bat their 50 overs.  After putting  20 on with Tom Curran in three overs, David  Willey backed away to squeeze Afridi through the covers but he was bowled two  balls after he had driven Afridi straight for a six.

Curran moved across his stumps to Afridi ramped over fine leg for a six into the new Emerald stand and miscued the next ball over third man’s head for another four. In the final over he flat batted Hasan Ali for a straight six and scooped the next ball over Sarfraz Ahmed’s  head to bring up the 350.

The stuffing was knocked of Pakistan’s reply by Woakes who took three wickets in nine ball without conceding a run and ended up taking five for 54.  He said: “It was just the start we needed which is crucial in this form of cricket.  If you don’t  get the openers early they can hurt you and that’s when a score of 400 is on. It’s always nice  to get five wickets in an innings because it doesn’t come along all that often.

Everyone has performed well in this series and somebody is going to dissapointed tomorrow when they get their phone call about the World Cup.”

First  he had opener Fakhar caught by Root at second slip to the third ball of the first over.  In his second over he got Abid leg before.  Abid decided to review it and the replay showed it to be umpires call.  Three balls later he got his second leg before decision.  Mohammad Hafeez wanted to review it but Baba said off you go. But if he had reviewed it he would have still been in because the replay showed it to be going over.

Babar was joined by his captain Sarfraz and the pair played a controlled partnership.  As they put some respectability to the Pakistan score.   They added 146 in 80 balls.  Sarfraz hitting his 10th ODI 50 and Babar hit his 12th.  Sarfraz’s first real shot of aggression was when he played back to Adil Rashid and flat batted him straight to the boundary.

The partnership was broken in a bizarre way when Sarfraz tickled Rashid  on the legside and set off for a single, Babar set off as well and more than halfway down the pitch when he was sent back.   Buttler’s throw to the bowler’s was wayward and Rashid with his back to the stumps flicked the ball on the stumps  with Babar a yard out. Their partnership was Pakistan’s second best fourth wicket partnership against England in ODI’s.

Sarfraz hit 14 off Rashid’s seventh over which included a straight six when he went down the wicket to Rashid.  Shoaib Malik  drove the last ball of the over and couldn’t believe it when  Rashid took a brilliant one handed catch diving tho his left.

Sarfraz dabbed Moeen Ali on the off side and set off for a quick single.  Sarfraz tried to scramble back but Buttler managed to run him out.

Woakes was brought back into the attack and struck immediately when he had Imad caught down the legside by Buttler.  His fifth victim was Hasan Ali who top edged him to Willey at long leg.

Willey got a wicket when Asif pulled him to Stokes at mid on. The last wicket pair of Afridi and Husnain had some fun adding 47 for the last wicket before Hasain was stumped by Buttler off Rashid for 28, his first runs in ODI cricket and he hit a six.  Afridi was unbeaten on 19.

For the final match in the series England made four changes from Trent Bridge, Bairstow, Morgan, Woakes and Willey came in for Roy, Denly, Wood and Archer while Pakistan replaced the injured Inman-ul-haq with Abid and Afridi came in for Junaid Khan.

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