Today saw England and Pakistan face off at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore in the latest instalment of an ODI tri-series involving these two sides and Sri Lanka. England were badly in need of a win after losing each of their first two matches, and after failing to defend a score of 429 in their previous outing against Sri Lanka (a match I missed since I a combination of commitments kept me out and about for 14 hours that day) they had opted to strengthen their bowling, meaning that Sam Curran was scheduled to bat at number six. The stage was set for a crucial contest…
THE ENGLAND INNINGS
England started atrociously, losing three wickets in five overs. Just as they seemed to be mounting a recovery Jordan Cox suffered a truly horrendous dismissal, walking straight into a glaringly obvious trap set by Haris Rauf to present Babar Azam with a catch and make it 52-4. Sam Curran joined Ben Duckett in a fifth wicket stand that raised 90, and Duckett went on to a fine century. However, he and Liam Dawson were both out with the score at 187. When Overton was ninth out at 201, bringing debutant Henry Crocombe in to join Gus Atkinson it looked poor for England. The last wicket pair scored a further 40 between them, Atkinson ending unbeaten on 36. The task facing Pakistan did not look overly daunting….
THE PAKISTAN RESPONSE
The required run rate was not a problem for Pakistan, but wickets soon did become one, and when Babar Azam was bowled by Atkinson to make it 31-3 things looked interesting. A combination of good England bowling and Pakistan freezing under the pressure being applied saw more than 15 overs pass without a single boundary at one stage of the innings. Some of the Pakistanis got themselves out through being unable to cope with the fact that they weren’t hitting boundaries. At 103-6 Pakistan looked in deep trouble, and 154-9, with Haris Rauf joining Shadab Khan and 88 still needed it appeared that the fat lady was having a last gargle before taking to the stage.
Then things took a dramatic turn, as Shadab Khan started to bat very well indeed, Haris Rauf, who Shadab was doing a good job of shielding, did all that was asked of him and England found that last wicket hard to come by. As the target came down and down impossible moved to improbable. With Pakistan 20 adrift it looked like the fat lady was finally getting her moment, as Atkinson had Shadab Khan given LBW for 97 (already 11 more than his previous ODI career best), but a review taken simply because it was there to be taken (hands were being shaken and Shadab was walking past the umpire when he made the T sign) led to a tiny edge on to the pad being detected on the replay and the action resumed. Then came a near run out during which Rauf suffered a groin strain, which fortunately cleared up very quickly. Shadab Khan moved from 99 to 103 with a four off the second ball of the 47th over. He celebrated by hitting the next ball for four more, and the ask was down to nine. The next two balls were tight and accurate and dots went into the scorebook. The sixth ball of the over was full and straight, and foregoing any attempt to secure the strike, Shadab Khan launched it down the ground for the fifth six of his innings to reduce the target to a mere three. At this point, even though the far more experienced Curran was still available to bowl, Brook decided to hand the ball to the debutant Crocombe for the 48th over of the innings. Haris Rauf, at that point on 3 not out in a partnership worth 85, drilled the first ball of the over straight down the ground for four and Pakistan’s great escape was complete. There is almost certainly some bizarre mathematical scenario by which England can still qualify for Saturday’s final, but in practice, especially given what a massive body blow losing from the position they were in when the ninth Pakistan wicket fell is, their tournament is over and they have only themselves to blame. For the record Shadab Khan scored 113 not out from 96 balls with 13 fours and five sixes. As damaging a result as it was for England, it was an unforgettable finish, and one I am very glad to have followed live, albeit from afar, and a classic proof of the appositeness of the title line “It is Never Over Until the Fat Lady Sings” to cricket in particular – the many spectators who left the Gaddafi when the ninth Pakistan wicket fell must be feeling right Charlies at seeing what they missed by doing so. Scorecard here.
A QUIZ NIGHT AT THE TOWN HALL
Fraser Dawbarns hosted a charity quiz night at King’s Lynn Town Hall on Thursday, and since WNAG were one of the charities benefitting from this I was there as part of the WNAG team (the categories were not very suitable for me, which is one reason why we had a midtable finish).
Here is my quiz night gallery…
PHOTOGRAPHS
I also have one of my regular photo galleries (reminder, to view pictures at larger size click on one)…
