Sarfraz Ahmed made a classy 90 as Pakistan achieved a consolation four-wicket win in the fifth and final one-day global in Cardiff on Sunday.
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England will eye a clean sweep over Pakistan when the two teams lock horns in the fifth and final One-Day International in Cardiff on Sunday (September 4).
The giant left-armer was drafted in for the final two matches and next week’s one-off NatWest Twenty20, but managed only five overs in Thursday’s four-wicket defeat at Headingley before limping out of the action with cramp.
They gave an ODI debut to Hampshire left-arm spinner Liam Dawson, with specialist slow bowlers Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid both rested.
“I thought it was a great opportunity to get Liam Dawson on to the worldwide stage in one-day cricket with one eye towards the winter”.
Swansea-born Imad Wasim is returning to his roots for this match.
Roy faced 89 balls, including eight fours and two sixes.
All-rounder Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Amir came back for Pakistan after sitting out at Headingley.
Roy was dismissed in the 28th over when he top edged Amir to mid-wicket and Stokes spliced an easy catch off Hasan as Pakistan hit back late in the innings, limiting England to 58 in the last 10 overs.
Chris Woakes joined Liam Dawson in the centre, as England continued to push for 300. Hosts won the five match series 4-1.
He fell short of a second century in the series, but Pakistan had enough leeway and kept their nerve for an overdue win with 10 balls to spare.
Stokes contributed only nine singles to the 50 stand with Roy, who had a minor moment of fortune on 55 when Mohammad Rizwan was unable to hold what would have been a memorable catch diving to his right at midwicket off Shoaib. Pakistan 168 for 3 after 27 overs.
Azhar Ali, the captain, is reminiscent of Alastair Cook and the way the management groomed a future Test captain in one-day cricket.
Another hard-fought win would not be a bad thing, either, as the side continues to became battle-hardened ahead of next summer’s Champions Trophy, where, given the short nature of the tournament, one bad day can be terminal for any ambitions.
Sarfraz (90) and Shoaib (77) set Pakistan’s new highest one-day global partnership for the fourth wicket against England. Let s see how the Pakistani batters respond to this challenge.
“Whether that be keeping wicket, just playing as a batter, batting at one or 11, every time you go out there you try to do your best”. Hasan Ali has three wickets to his name now.
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Even when the numbers are broken down to averages per completed match, given only Zimbabwe have played more fixtures since 1 April previous year, they still lead the way across all the boards bar clearing the boundary, with New Zealand averaging 6.09 sixes per innings to their 5.4. “I’m finding my way with the one-day team”.
