After the humiliating loss against West Indies on 31st May, Pakistan was really looking forward to turn things around in their next game, and they played as gracefully as they could to cease the victory against the World Cup favourites, England. On the other hand, England had already registered their 1st victory against South Africa in the opening match of the season. Pakistan was desperate to shed their losing streak at once and they played accordingly with the bat after England won the toss and opted to bowl first. Imam ul-Haq (44 out; 58b; 3X4, 1X6) and Fakhar Zaman (36 out; 40b; 6X4) started with a strong partnership and after the partnership broke in the 15th over, Babar Azam (63 out; 66b; 4X4, 1X6), Mohammed Hafeez (84 out; 62b; 8X4, 2X6) and Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed (55 out; 44b; 5X4) batted with equal competency and posted a defendable total of 348 runs after 50 overs, with the loss of 8 wickets.
In the second half of the innings, England gave a tough fight to counter the attacks by Pakistan, as their opening batsmen were quick to fall prey to Shadab Khan and Wahab Riaz’s attacks. At no.3, Joe Root (107 out; 104b; 10X4, 1X6) was playing a phenomenal innings to inch England close to a 2nd win, while Captain Eoin Morgan (9 out; 18b; 1X4) and Ben Stokes (13 out; 18b; 1X4) were unable contribute much with the bat. Jos Buttler (103 out; 76b; 9X4, 2X6) joined hands with Root to take the hosts a lot further, but Shadab Khan brings back hope to the Pakistan dugout with Joe Root’s wicket in the 39th over and soon after, Mohammed Amir gets Jos Buttler to head back to the England dugout. Moeen Ali’s (19 out; 20b; 1X4) contribution with the ball was much effective but his batting did not help much as along with Ali, the rest of the team also crumbled under the building pressure, as Pakistan became victorious for the first time in the season restricting the hosts 14 runs short of their 2nd win.
