The duo put on 103 runs for the fifth wicket with Stokes scoring 69 runs while Bairstow scored 61 runs to pick up the player of the match award.
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For instance, England were four wickets down for 72 runs in the fourth ODI, while chasing 248 runs to win.
I got told 32 minutes before the start that I was playing.
“We thought it was an attainable target and if we’re honest, we cruised home. There was no panic at any point in that chase”. His 171 broke the English record for the highest ODI score by an English batsman and was also his career-best List-A, ODI career and helped England to the highest-ever ODI total and that is why he makes it into this list despite scores of 7, 14, 8 and 23 in the remaining four matches of the series.
“It was a bit more of a competitive game”, said Azhar at the presentation ceremony. No team scores more quickly than England’s 6.34 runs an over, nor has any team averaged in excess than their 41.54 runs per wicket.
The giant 7ft 1in (2.1 metres) Irfan, who was himself only called into the squad as an injury replacement for Mohammad Hafeez on August 27, managed just five legitimate overs in Thursday´s fourth one-day global against England at Headingley before going off with cramps to the visible annoyance of coach Mickey Arthur.
Mohammad Irfan marked his first match of the series by removing both England openers.
Pakistan captain Azhar Ali: “Irfan bowled well with the new ball, but his calves were cramping up”.
“The way we bowled at Nottingham wasn’t good enough”.
Chris Woakes had Sharjeel Khan chipping a catch to mid-on – and then after a second-wicket stand of 54, Mark Wood’s extra pace interrupted progress.
Sami Aslam had laboured for 43 balls over his 26 when he sent a top edge into the stratosphere with Stokes, again, the man to hold his nerve. Wicket-keeper Ahmed was first to fifty, off 44 balls, when he pulled Stokes for his seventh four, and Malik followed him to the landmark in 49 balls.
Morgan fell disappointingly too when he mistimed a full toss straight back at Imad Wasim, the Swansea-born spinner taking a wicket with only his third delivery back in Wales.
However, going for a risky single, he was run out by Azhar’s direct hit from mid-off.
Mohammad Rizwan was 34 not out and left-hander Wasim 16-not out, with England’s attack missing the rested trio of frontline spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, as well as fast bowler Liam Plunkett.
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Belated aggression came courtesy of Imad, the left-hander hitting seven fours and a six in his second successive half-century. The mood in the ODI camp will be completely different to the one that prevailed in the Misbah-ul-Haq-led side, which stole the show not just with its cricketing skills but with the off-the-field theatrics after clinching victories in the recently concluded Test series.
