England Send Pakistan Packing
After some brutally effective bowling, some solid teamwork, and one hell of a batting display, England took the five match ODI series against Pakistan 4-1, losing the fifth and final ODI having rested both frontline spinners (Rashid and Ali) as well as the world's most dangerous ODI batsman Jos Buttler. In truth it wasn't even a poor display from England: with the ball they set over 300 despite some brilliant Pakistan bowling and a mini collapse at the end, and they didn't make it easy for Pakistan to chase it down, even missing an element of control in the middle overs without the spin duo.
But the damage had already been done. Thrice Pakistan had batted first, and thrice they had failed to make 300, bowled out for 260, 251 and 247 in the first, second and fourth ODIs, Azhar Ali and Sarfraz doing almost all of the batting in those three innings, Ali making two 80s and Sarfraz adding Pakistan's only hundred of the series. England, in comparison, faced no difficulties batting, and on each of the occasions that Pakistan set them a seriously below par total, England chased with ease: Stokes, Bairstow, Roy and Morgan all making fifties, and Root making fifties in each of England's first three matches of the series, making him the man of the series. There was composure up and down the order from England, and they made routine chases look just that.
But of course, all the talk won't be about England's excellent three bowling displays, in which Chris Woakes and Mark Wood in particular were absolutely exceptional, and Adil Rashid sublime. The talk will all be about England's record breaking innings, in which they hit 444-3 to humiliate Pakistan by scoring the highest total ever scored in an ODI.
And so it should be to an extent, because this was truly a devastating and brutal reminder that England have developed into not just an all-round exceptional ODI side, which they are, but one of the most brutally effective, destructive batting line ups in the world. And so it proved as Alex Hales, supported by others of course but very much the catalyst for this mayhem, took Pakistan's bowling line up apart, eviscerated them with an almost arrogant ease, coolly dispatching Azhar Ali for 20 off one over, brutalising Wahab Riaz and Shoaib Malik and even plundering comfortably over a run a ball off the likes of Mohammed Amir and Yasir Shah.
Joe Root played the first excellent support act, knocking the ball around intelligently and anchoring the other end, enabling Hales to play his own, uniquely destructive brand of cricket, as Hales plundered 171 runs off 122 balls, with Root at the other end 85 off just 86, having scored only the eight boundaries in his innings. Once these two got out, almost one after the other, with England 283-3 after 38 overs, it gave captain Eoin Morgan and King of Destruction Jos Buttler license to go bonkers. And they certainly did that, as they struck the fastest and second fastest ODI 50s for England, Buttler securing his off 22 balls and Morgan 24. Buttler ended up dominating the strike, scoring 90 off 51, but Morgan also contributed to the carnage, scoring 57 off 27, as England scored 240 runs off the last 20 overs, adding over 160 off the last twelve overs.
And then of course, credit has to go to the bowlers in that game too, as once again they restricted Pakistan to just 275, never letting them threaten what was admittedly an impossible to chase total. In fact, Pakistan's chase of 302 in the final ODI was easily their best batting display, against an England attack sorely lacking balance with Moeen and Rashid rested.
For England, this was once again a triumphant series in which everyone contributed. All seven of the batsmen who played in the top six scored at least one fifty, with Hales making his huge century, Root making three fifties, Roy, Stokes, Morgan all scoring two each and Buttler and Bairstow, who played half the series each both scoring one. With the ball, Woakes and Wood tore into Pakistan with the new ball, Plunkett consistently contributed, and Ali and Rashid were excellent, the latter in particular devastating at times. Once again, this was an England ODI series in which every single member of the team contributed, and even those who were given a limited role, in Willey, Jordan etc. did not disgrace themselves.
And whilst England were terrific, Pakistan were truly awful for large swathes. As mentioned, only two of their top six contributed consistently, and even then they were never able to work together to set a dangerous total. With the ball, England were always on top of them, and although in truth this series was lost with the bat for Pakistan, the state of their bowling attack when England hit 444 indicated that they would have had trouble defending even a passable total. It's easy to see why Pakistan sit 9th in the world ODI rankings, and may not even reach the Champions Trophy next year.
Overall, this was a thoroughly satisfying performance from an England side that have vastly improved in ODI cricket over the last two years, winning four of their six series in that time and narrowly losing to Australia and South Africa, since their dismal world cup. They will be serious contenders, especially in English conditions, for the next two major ODI tournaments between now and 2019.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Murray cruised into the quarters in straight sets.
- Djokovic plays Tsonga later. Murray has Nishikori tomorrow.
- Wales won 4-0 whilst ROI secured a draw.
- Aussies set new T20 record score. 263. Blimey.
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