The Irishman did not deny his natural disappointment after England fell short in their bid for a piece of history, but was looking optimistically at the bigger picture – which includes a Champions Trophy next season and then a World Cup in 2019, both on home soil. The way Sarfraz and Shoaib batted, we lost two wickets in one over and that could have been a turning point of the game but the way they built up the partnership was brilliant. Azhar Ali, who notched up 208 runs in the series, is presently ranked 33.
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England batsman Joe Root surged into the top five for the first time after a stellar performance against Pakistan, which earned him the player of the series award. “The attitude and hunger to want to be better playing in that manner, I think, sums up the direction one-day worldwide cricket is going and the talent we have”.
“Every game throughout the series, we’ve come out with a hunger and determination to perform at our best”.
“No regrets about the team – it was an opportunity to get Liam Dawson on the global stage, it was important looking ahead to the winter, in case we go to three spinners, that he had a game under his belt”, Morgan said at the presentation ceremony. The next highest Pakistan batsman is Shoaib Malik in 67th spot.
Earlier, Jason Roy made 87 and Ben Stokes an ODI best 75 in England’s 302 for nine.
Australia, which scripted a 4-1 series win over Sri Lanka, saw Aaron Finch and George Bailey move up two and three places, respectively. “He’s been positive and scoring good runs at No. 5, so we’ve got some good performances but we just need to bind it together and start playing consistent cricket”. Man-of-the-match Ahmed, who also scored Pakistan’s first ODI hundred at Lord’s in the second match, was the leading overall run-scorer in the series with exactly 300 at an average of 60. “I don’t think, this far out, you can label anybody as favourites”.
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Meanwhile, England’s series result against Pakistan has seen the hosts move from 106 points to 107 points in fifth position, three behind India and South Africa, who are on 110 points each.
