Sports Desk
Cardiff: Dawid Malan and debutant Zak Crawley walk over Pakistani bowlers easily and help England chase down 142 runs in 21.5 overs to win the first ODI of three-matches series on Thursday.
Pakistani bowlers looked morally down as batters didn’t give them supportive total to defend the defeat. Shaheen Shah Afridi was the lone wicket-taker from Pakistan who removed Phil Salt in the fifth over.
It were Malan and Crawley who took away an easy chase successfully and wrapped up the game in 22nd over. Malan scored his second ODI fifty and remained not out for 68 laced with eight boundaries. Whilst, Crawley scored fifty on debut, made a match-winning 58 not-out with the help of seven boundaries.
Earlier, Saqib Mahmood picked up four wickets as England bowled out Pakistan for 141 runs in first inning.
Saqib started the proceeding with back-to-back wickets of Pakistani opener Imam-ul-Haq and skipper Babar Azam in the first over. Pakistan were reduced to 0-2 in just three balls.
Lewis Gregory bagged Mohammad Rizwan in the fourth over as the batting collapse wasn’t over for Pakistan. Rizwan walked back to the pavilion after scoring 13 runs with three boundaries. Rizwan’s wicket was followed by another scalp of Saqib, this time he bagged debutant Saud Shakeel who was trapped LBW.
Opener Fakhar Zaman held one end tight, but wickets tumbling at the other end put him under pressure. The pressure was visible as his call for a misjudged run cost Sohaib Maqsood’s wicket in a run-out. The pair scored 53 runs together for the fifth wicket and Sohaib scored 19 on his comeback after five years.
Fakhar got out after scoring 47 laced with six boundaries whereas Shadab Khan also fought well to take his team out of pressure. He made 30 runs off 43 balls.
Saqib bagged his best ODI figures of 4-42. Craig Overton and Matt Parkinson bagged two wickets each. Gregory took a scalp.
TOSS
England’s skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bowl first
The hosts have handed debut caps to five individuals while Saud Shakeel makes debut for Green Shirts.
“We’re a successful team bowling, so just because we’ve got a changed team, we’re not going to change our ways. A strange situation, but to pick a team of this calibre shows we’re in a good place,” Stokes said after winning the toss.
“We are looking forward to it, we are not worried about match practice, we’ve had ten days in Derby and played two to three practice matches,” Babar opined.
England: Phil Salt, Dawid Malan, Zak Crawley, James Vince, Ben Stokes (capt), John Simpson (wk) Lewis Gregory, Craig Overton, Brydon Carse, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Sohaib Maqsood, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf
