All-rounder Arafat Minhas blew away England with his half-century with the bat and six for 40 with the ball as Pakistan handed them a 87-run defeat in the second match of the ODI tri-nation series to make it two wins out of as many games here at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday night.
It is Pakistan’s largest winning margin over England in ODIs since 2005. Pakistan will face England again on 25 October at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. England, meanwhile, will be up against Sri Lanka on 22 October at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Pakistan’s total of 302-9 in 50 overs proved more than enough as England were bowled out for 215 in 38.4 overs. England had slipped from 91 for no loss as Arafat ran through their batting following the first blood drawn by Haris Rauf.
Pakistan, who fielded an unchanged team from their previous win over Sri Lanka, were inserted in by Harry Brook. Pakistan lost Fakhar Zaman on the first ball of the game, while Saim Ayub, Babar Azam (34, 52b, 4x4s) and Salman Ali Agha (16, 19b, 2x4s) also departed early with Pakistan 81-4 in 18.4 overs.
At this juncture, Pakistan’s top-scorer Hasan Nawaz (79, 74b, 5x4s, 4x6s) walked in and got off the mark with a six off Adil Rashid. Hasan rebuilt the innings as he shared half-century partnerships with Saad Baig (35, 54b, 5x4s) and Arafat Minhas (59, 58b, 9x4s).
Hasan stitched 52 runs with Saad and his quickfire 78-run stand off just 74 balls with Arafat kept Pakistan’s innings on course to their second consecutive total in excess of the 300-run mark. With Pakistan 211 for five in 39.4 overs, Hasan was castled by Jamie Overton.
Faheem Ashraf then joined forces in the middle with Arafat and they added 72 valuable runs for the seventh wicket. Faheem fell for 39 off 26 balls hitting five fours and one six. Pakistan finished with 302-9 in 50 overs as Shaheen Shah Afridi hit two fours in his five-ball 10 not out and Haris Rauf struck a boundary on the lasts ball of the innings.
For England, Sonny Baker picked up three for 65, while Gus Atkinson dismissed two batters. In reply, England got off to a flying start with Ben Duckett and Tom Banton putting on 91 runs in 14.3 overs before the floodgates opened.
England’s 10 for 124 collapse began with Haris removing Duckett for 45 off 46 balls. Banton also departed after reaching his fifty and became Arafat’s first prey in the game. In his subsequent over – the 21st of the innings – Arafat cleaned up England captain Brook for just five.
Joe Root (33, 35b, 2x4s) and Sam Curran’s (27, 39b, 1×6) effort to resurrect the innings fell flatly as Root was bowled by Naseem Shah and the latter became Haris’ second scalp with England 177-5. England then lost 5-38 in quick time as Arafat finished with 6-40 off 8.4 overs.
Arafat’s figures are the second best for a Pakistan bowler in ODIs on home soil besides Shoaib Akhtar’s 6-16 against New Zealand in Karachi in 2002.
Scores in brief
Match 2 – Pakistan beat England by 87 runs at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
Pakistan 302-9, 50 overs (Hasan Nawaz 79, Arafat Minhas 59, Faheem Ashraf 39, Saad Baig 35, Babar Azam 34; Sonny Baker 3-65)
England 215 all out 38.4 overs (Tom Banton 57, Ben Duckett 45, Joe Root 33, Sam Curran 27; Arafat Minhas 6-40)
Player of the match – Arafat Minhas (Pakistan)
