Batsman Jason Roy called on England to seize control of the one-day series with Pakistan in Saturday’s second match at Lord’s after he overcame a bout of illness to spearhead a 44-run win on Wednesday night.
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To pull off a drawn series under pressure like that and away from home is something we haven’t seen from Pakistan in many years, with the side known for their unpredictability, not only from series to series, but from match to match – particularly when touring.
He received five minutes’ treatment after a quick-fire 20 from 14 balls, appearing to complain of dizziness and vision issues.
Pakistan were going well at 173-3 after 35 overs, but then lost Azhar before a rain stoppage put a further break on their run-scoring.
Indeed England were cruising – Root passing his 50 off 56 balls – until Morgan called the Yorkshireman for a tight single and Root was run out by Azhar Ali’s direct hit.
That England, after losing the toss, had such a manageable goal owed much to a disciplined performance with the ball from their five full-time bowlers and a nicely burgled wicket from Root’s part-time off-spin, with the tone set early on by the returning Mark Wood in what was his first worldwide cap since October past year.
England recalled the fit-again Durham duo of all-rounder Ben Stokes and fast bowler Mark Wood.
Pakistan: Azhar Ali (capt), Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Sami Aslam, Sarfraz Ahmad (wk), Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah.
However, Rashid had the last laugh when Azam was given out LBW to the leg spinner despite the ball clearly hitting the bat first.
Azhar was still on nine when he glanced fast bowler Liam Plunkett and a diving Buttler dropped the hard left-handed chance.
The Pakistan opener let hubris dictate his decision to demand a review, only to be rightly denied a reprieve.
England: 194-3, 34.3 overs (J Roy 65, J Root 61). Azhar pressed on to a relatively sedate 84-ball fifty to up the tempo, but fell for 82 off 110 balls, top-edging a slog-sweep off Rashid (2 for 51) to Moeen Ali at short third man.
The Ireland-born batsman has overseen a drastic overhaul of England’s approach to One Day International cricket since they were dumped out of the 2015 World Cup by Bangladesh.
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Jason Roy and Joe Root took England to the cusp of victory with an 89-run stand for the second wicket.
