Pakistan were bowled out for 251 with a ball to spare after winning the toss in the second one-day global against England at Lord’s on Saturday.
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Root, who bats at the one-down slot, brought up his fifty in the 21st over which brightened the hosts’ chances of winning after stuttering earlier on.
England’s fielding was shoddy at times but Plunkett held a brilliant diving one-handed catch at extra-cover to dismiss Wahab Riaz before No 11 Mohammad Amir was run out with one ball left in the innings.
The 27-year-old, boasting ODI average of over 70 in the ongoing calender year, was castled by Imad in an attempt to slog the ball towards the on-side.
Root has four consecutive ODI half-centuries: the best run for England is five by Geoff Boycott, Graham Gooch, Alec Stewart, Jonathan Trott and Alex Hales.
A 10-over score of 39 for two was modest but England were in safe hands – despite Root hobbling after his collision with Rashid.
The second century of Sarfraz Ahmed’s ODI career has helped Pakistan to something approaching a competitive score at Lord’s. “We need wickets in the middle and wickets will be key, particularly against the side like England who bat that deep and we can only stop them from scoring by taking wickets”, he added.
England’s victory is their first in an ODI at Lord’s since 2012, having lost their previous three at the ground. “I’ve never seen him tackle me like that before, not even in the warm-ups”.
Pacemen Chris Woakes and Mark Wood took three wickets apiece as England looked to go 2-0 up in this five-match series following their 44-run rain-affected win at Southampton on Wednesday.
But the Lord’s pitch looks well-grassed, which could be good news for fast bowler Mark Wood.
Indeed, their total was just six more than West Indies managed in their Twenty20 match against India in the United States on Saturday. “Got the ball talking in the first four overs, and that was an awesome way to start”.
First Wood uprooted Sharjeel Khan’s off stump with an 87mph beauty that pitched full and seamed perfectly away from the bat, then Woakes unpicked Azhar Ali’s defence with a sharp inswinger.
Sarfraz has performed superbly, Babar Azam appears to have a lot of time to play his shots and Imad Wasim is a versatile cricketer.
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Describing Stokes as a “genuine all-rounder”, Imad said the English bowler is one of the best in the world and that the Morgan-led side would definitely turn stronger in his presence.
