Pakistan thrashed by England after run-out circus

Sharjah: Pakistan paid the price for their shoddy batting and poor running between the wickets as they lost the third One Day International to England by six wickets at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

Through a spirited bowling display and immaculate fielding, England skittled Pakistan for 208 and reached the moderate target in 41 overs.

The Pakistan attack toiled, particularly 20-year-old debutant Zafar Gohar who bowled brilliantly to take two wickets to get back into the game, and pushed England to 93 for 4 at one stage.

England’s in-form batsmen James Taylor (67*) and Jos Buttler (49*) ensured the victory through an unbeaten 117-run partnership in 19.1 overs to snatch a 2-1 lead in the four match series.

The final one-dayer will be played in Dubai on Friday.

The Pakistan batsmen made England’s task easy by playing rash shots. Three were guilty of getting themselves run out, including skipper Azhar Ali.

England medium pacer Chris Woakes produced another brilliant spell, following his 4 for 33 in the second match by taking four wickets for 40 runs.

If it wasn’t for lower order batsman Wahab Riaz’s unbeaten 33 off 35 balls with three mighty sixes, Pakistan would have folded before the 200 mark.

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first as statistics showed the toss winner won six of the last eight ODIs here.

Little did the Pakistan skipper know then that his batsmen would play atrocious shots and gift their wickets. 

Pakistan, unlike in earlier matches, got off to a fine start with their openers Azhar and Babar Azam putting on 45 runs in 10.6 overs.

Azam was the first to play a bad shot despite being settled. He went for a hook and top edged to Adil Rashid at deep square leg for 22.

Mohammad Hafeez entertained the crowd with his aggression. He hit spinner Rashid for a boundary as well as a six off consecutive balls in the 16th overs.

Pakistan fans cheered him to go for more big shots.

Hafeez and Azhar had put on 47 runs in 8.3 overs when Azhar was run out for 36 off a superb stop and throw from Taylor at backward point.

Hafeez and Sarfraz came together to put on 40 runs in 10.1 overs before Hafeez top edged left-arm medium pacer David Willey to Joe Root at deep square leg for 45.

Sarfraz fell in the next over, lofting Moeen Ali to substitute Chris Jordan as England took control over the match.

To make things more comfortable for England, next man Mohammad Rizwan was run out.

Iftikhar Ahmad, who had a poor debut in the second one-day match, pulled Woakes high into the hands of Root at deep square leg for 3.

Anwar Ali did the same, hitting Topley high to Moeen for 7.

Shoaib Malek (16) became the third batsman run out as Jordan found a direct hit from mid-wicket.

Gohar, who joined Wahab, lofted Willey for a huge six over long on. The pair put on 26 runs in 30 balls before Gohar perished for 15.

Riaz’s big hitting brought some respect to the score.

All that England needed was a steady start to chase such a small total.

Mohammad Irfan gave hope by dismissing opener Jason Roy for 7.

Fellow opener Alex Hales escaped being caught and bowled by Irfan off a leading edge while on 7.

Root lasted just 14 balls to score 11 runs before becoming debutant Gohar’s first victim, sweeping a full toss straight to Iftikhar at mid-wicket.

When Root reached three it meant he had scored 2,000 runs for England in all three formats of the game in 2015, joining a list featuring England players Kevin Pietersen (2,120 in 2007) and Paul Collingwood (2,026 in 2007). The all-time record in all formats in a year Kumar Sangakkara’s 2,868 in 2014.

Gohar could have dismissed Morgan on 2 had he managed to hold on to the powerful straight drive.

Hales slog swept Gohar for a six in the 10th over.

Morgan elegantly pulled Riaz for a boundary to take charge.

They went on to register a 60-run partnership in 14.4 overs before Gohar had Hales caught at slip for 30.

Malek bowled Morgan with a beauty to pick up his 150th one-day wicket.

Buttler escaped being stumped on zero when he stepped out to Malek.

Thereafter he and Taylor smoothly guided the team to victory.