Pakistan vs England – England clean-sweep Pakistan with another comfortable win

 
As expected, England completed the white-wash by beating Pakistan. It was another lackluster batting and bowling performance by the ‘home’ team on a wicket that suited them more than England. The team looked a distant shadow of the one that had inflicted historic white-wash to England in the Test series.

 

 Match Report: England tour of United Arab Emirates, 4th ODI, Dubai International Cricket Stadium, 21 February 2012 (D/N)

Pakistan captain wasted no time in deciding to bat first after winning the toss. The team selected had three changes, with unfit Imran Farhat and out-of-form Umar Gul and Aizaz Cheema out, being replaced by Shoaib Malik, Abdur Rehman and Junaid Khan. Pakistan, strangely, picked only one seamer in Junaid; again leaving out all-rounder Hammad Azam. England, on the other hand, left out Broad, Anderson, Bopara and Swann which meant chances for Bresnan, Dernbach, Danny Briggs and Jos Buttler.

Dernbatch shared the new ball with Steven Finn ahead of Tim Bresnan and had immediate success by getting off-colour Mohammad Hafeez out caught at the wicket in the second over of the innings. Asad Shafiq started with a crushing on-drive off his third ball and did not look back from there. He played uninhibitedly along with Azhar Ali who seemed to enjoy his new role as opener.

Both young guns oozed confidence as England, for the first time in the 4-match ODI series, looked short of options. They wanted early wickets but, instead, had to contend with some bright batting from Azhar and Shafiq. They did not run away with the strike rate but their positive approach did not allow English bowlers to settle. Azhar twice moved out of his crease to play on-the-up drives through cover off Bresnan. Asad too hit a few lovely boundaries, particularly against the spin of Briggs and Samit Patel.

Asad brought his 6th ODI 50, off just 59 balls, with a flick off the pads as Dernbach strayed. Hundred was up in the 21st over and the pair looked difficult to separate. But Bresnan got the lucky break when he had Asad Shafiq played-on. He had to depart after making a promising 65 (with 6 fours) but not before he had laid solid foundation with Azhar Ali by putting up 111 for the second wicket.

Umar Akmal came at number four and looked positive from the outset as usual. Azhar, who had slowed down a bit, brought up his first 50 in ODIs off 74 balls which included 5 fours. After getting a hard-hit four off Patel, Umar chose to lift Briggs over long off but the ball landed in the palms of Dernbach. It was Umar’s yet another start that went unfulfilled.

Shoaib Malik walked in, ahead of Misbah, with a golden opportunity to shut his critics by playing a solid innings on a helpful track and with no significant pressure as well. But the pressure mounted immediately as well-set Azhar Ali nicked straight to point as he closed his bat too early against Dernbach who burst in jubilation. England were back in the game - familiar tale for them in the series.

Misbah joined Shoaib Malik and shared a partnership of 58 runs at run a ball as one played to anchor the innings while the other, Malik, for his place. They wasted the batting powerplay as they hit only a single four, a hoist over mid wicket by Misbah, and collected just 26 runs. Pakistan had lost the ground as England clawed back with tight bowling and brilliant fielding, helped by Pakistan’s unimaginative batting.

Misbah lofted Patel in the 43rd over for a huge six but momentum was lost again with twin strikes by England. Danny Briggs got Malik out LBW for a boundary-less 23, while Afridi holed out to midwicket in the 47th over to give Finn his first wicket. Abdur Rehman got two boundaries off Finn but apart from that there was no spark in the closing overs from Pakistan. They were all out for 237, last 10 overs yielding just 58 runs.

In another disappointing batting display, Pakistan lost six wickets for just 35 runs in the end, after they were given a bright start by Asad and Azhar. Misbah made 46 off 52 balls with one four and a six, another innings that has left a lot to be desired. For England, Dernbach took 4 for 45, while Briggs took a couple for just 39 – a good debut performance. Finn’s 2 wickets took him to 13 in the series.

Pakistan had the best possible start when Junaid Khan nipped out Alastair Cook on the second ball which nipped back sharply and hit him plumb in front. He went for a fruitless review.  Cook had been real headache for Pakistan in the series with two hundreds and an 80 odd. Jonathan Trott and Pietersen took England to 50 in 12 overs when Abdur Rehman got rid of Trott for a laboured 15.

Saeed Ajmal then created a real stir in English dressing room with a double strike in his third over. First Eoin Morgan departed through an LBW and then Jos Buttler could last only two balls in his debut innings as he gave a loopy catch to short leg. Pakistan were in the driver’s seat with England on 68 for 4 after 16 overs.

Kevin Pietersen and Craig Kieswetter first stabilized the innings and then took England closer to victory with a measured and flowing partnership of 109 runs for the 5th wicket. Their running between the wickets was a treat to watch as despite being denied for too many boundaries the asking rate did not mount at all. Pakistan needed a wicket dearly to try to avoid the white wash.

Azhar Ali’s brilliant work resulted in the run out of Kieswetter with England still needing 60 runs from 62 balls. Pietersen, who was nearing his second hundred in as many matches, was the man between Pakistan and England. He moved to 99 with an audacious six off Junaid who erred by bowling short to him. From his 136th ball Pietersen reached his hundred which included 8 fours and a six.

Junaid was brought back but he bowled too short which allowed Pietersen to hit two back-to-back fours resulting in defusing Pakistani spirits as the shoulders dropped. England needed just 26 runs from the last five overs. Pietersen reached his highest ODI score, 122, with a thumping six over Ajmal’s head.

England romped home with four balls to spare but Pietersen was not there to watch it as he had got out trying to finish off the match with a big hit when two runs were required. His magnificent 130 came off in 152 balls with 12 fours and two sixes.

England won by 4 wickets and took the series 4-nil. It was a sweet revenge – may be not of the same magnitude – to their white-wash defeat at the hands of the same opposition in the Test series.


Summarised Scores:

England 241/6 (Pietersen 130, Kieswetter 43; Saeed Ajmal 3/62) beat Pakistan 237/10 (Asad Shafiq 65, Azhar 58; Dernbach 4/45) by 4 wickets

Debutants: DR Briggs, JC Buttler (England)

Series Result: England 4-0 Pakistan

Man of the Match: Kevin Pietersen

Man of the Series: Alastair Cook


Credit: AP (Image)