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With a third-string side, England crushed a much-more experienced Pakistan in the first One Day International (ODI) of the ongoing three-𒁃match series at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Thursday.
Pacer Saqib Mahmood sent shockwaves to the Pakistan batting unit after producing a magical performance with the white leather. The right-armer provided the first breakthrough on the very first ball of the innings by dismissing opener Imam-ul-Haq for a golden duck.
But Saqib didn’t just stop there as on the third ball of the same over; the Warwickshire bowler got the big fish when he sent back Pakistan skipper Babar Azam without troubling the scorers.
The visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals and never really got any momentum to post a competitive total. Opener Fakhar Zaman remained the only major highlight for his side, falling three runs short of his half-century when Matthew Parkinson dismissed him in🅰 the 22nd over.
Later, Shadab Khan made a valuable contribution of 30 runs as Pakistan were bundled out for 141 in the 36th over. Sa💜qib finished the innings with a four-wicket haul for 42 runs in his quota of 10 overs. Apart from Saqib, Craig Overton and Parkinson bagged two scalps each.
In reply, England lost opener Philip Salt early for seven runs, but Dawid Malan and Zak Crawley stood tall and never allowed Pakistan bowlers t🌞o come back in the game💖.
The pair of Malan and Crawley went on to add unbeaten 120 runs for the first wicket to hand the visi꧅ting side a defeat by nine wickets. Malan scored 68 not out off 69 deliveries while Crawley stayed unbeaten on 58 from 50 balls.
Brief Score:
England 142/1 (Dawid Malan 68*, Zak Crawley 58*) beat Pakistan 141/10 (Fakhar Zaman 47, Saqib Mahmood 4/42) by nine wickets.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
Loved being back ❀in an England shirt tod♕ay and great way to start the series! in the back looked happy too 🤣
— Saqib Mahmood (@SaqMahmood25)
Love watching Pakistan play Cricketꦜ … A team that can beat any team in the world on any given day but also lose to any team on any given day …
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan)
Thought this was our B team 😜
— England's Barmy Army 🏴🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy)
England’s third string XI have just womped a full strength Pakistan. The white ball depth in this country is nothing short of extraordinary. The 2019 World Cup was the showpiece but matches like this in si🌃tuations like this are the foundations that unde🌃rpin that triumph.
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket)
Today's 9 wicket loss is Pakistan's heaviest defeat in England when batting first in a ODI versus England
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket)
This is Pakistan's first bad performance in ODIs in the last two years. They have won each of their last 3 ODI series. Only two ODIs lost in this period and both were closely fought games.
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad)
Unbeaten fifties from Dawid Malan and Zak Crawley guide England to a nine-wicket win in th😼e first ODI.
The ho🦩sts chase down 142 comfortably in 21.5 ove🍌rs 👏
Scorecard:
— ICC (@ICC)
Fifty by Zak Crawley on ODI debut, Dawid Malan also scored a fifty. An easy win on the cards for England, a complete team performance tꦚo outplay Pakistan.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra)
Just an observation! I really hope Dawid Malan is in good headspace! Just watching the highlights and even though he’s batted superbly, he just didn’t look happy or if he really wa❀nted to be there! Not a glimmer of a smile at 50! So hope everything is wel🍃l with Dawid 🤞🏼
— Michael Parker (@Parksy17)
An unbeaജten 120-run stand to see England to victory.
Zak Crawley and Dawid Malan, well played 👏
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket)
Outstanding win well played boys!! 🙌👌 🔥
— James Taylor (@jamestaylor20)
In three international innings against Pakistan, Zak Crawley has 378 runs aܫt an average of 189.
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp)
Dawid Malan is in beautiful touch. His Timing Rating in this innings is 164,⛎ the highest of any batsman in the match barring Fakhar Zaman. Dominant stuff.
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst)
