Pakistan defy all odds and make it into their first final in the history of the tournament as they beat England by 9 wickets at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Pakistan who barely made it into the tournament and were placed at No.8 in ICC ODI Rankings before the tournament proved everyone wrong with their fightback. Azhar Ali’s innings rubbished all critics’ opinion that he is not fit for limited overs cricket. He scored 76 before Jake Ball got the better of him with a slower bouncer. But Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez kept the things from falling apart as they chased down the total with 77 balls to spare.
In reply to England’s modest 211, Pakistan got off to a great start with their young opener Fakhar Zaman doing the damage once again. Azhar Ali too stuck with him and put on 118-run stand for the first wicket. Adil Rashid drew first blood as he got the wicket of Zaman but it was not enough to put the pressure back on Pakistan as Azhar and Babar Azam were cruising towards the target.
Earlier Pakistan did wonderfully well in the field after they won the toss and elected to bowl first. Replacing Jason Roy in the side Jonny Bairstow did well for England, opening the innings. Alex Hales got out early on but Rumaan Raees drew first blood. Joe Root and Bairstow tried to get the inning back on track but Bairstow could not convert a good start into a big score. Root and Morgan too departed after getting starts and could not stick around to get England to a big score.
Pakistan beat England by 8 wickets to reach the final of the Champions Trophy! #CT17 pic.twitter.com/ngzkxmJpDs
— ICC (@ICC) June 14, 2017
Hasan Ali continued his good run in the tournament as he got Bairstow, Morgan and Ben Stokes out. Stokes tried to bat throughout the innings with the tail and help England post a modest total but could not succeed in doing so. England suffered a batting collapse as they bundled out for 211 with 1 ball to spare.
@TheRealPCB showed no mercy, chasing down England's modest total of 211 in 37 overs, led by @AzharAli_ and Fakhar Zaman #ENGvPAK #CT17 pic.twitter.com/KEe40LGGJy
— ICC (@ICC) June 14, 2017
Hassan Ali's treble led a @TheRealPCB bowling attack that also saw contributions from @JunaidkhanREAL and @rummanraees15 #ENGvPAK #CT17 pic.twitter.com/ltMPSKuOAe
— ICC (@ICC) June 14, 2017
#ENGvPAK #CT17 pic.twitter.com/0FvKivirvm
— ICC (@ICC) June 14, 2017
Junaid Khan and Raees picked up two wickets each whereas Shadab Khan picked up one followed by Hasan who took three scalps.
Brief Scores:
England: 211 allout in 49.5 overs (Joe Root 46, Jonny Bairstow 43; Hasan Ali 3 for 35, Junaid Khan 2 for 42) lose to Pakistan 215 for 2 in 37.1 overs (Azhar Ali 76, Fakhar Zaman 57; Jake Ball 1 for 37, Adil Rashid 1 for 54) by 8 wickets.
