Pakistan beat Afghanistan in the most sensational match of ICC World Cup 2019

Boy what a day it was today watching the cricket match between Pakistan and Afghanistan that was played today in England.

Batting first Afghanistan were 227 for 9 in stipulated 50 overs. The inning was not very dramatic except Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi bowled superbly and took four Afghan wickets. However, when it came to Pakistan to bat, things were difficult right from the onset. The very effective fielding and very good bowling, Pakistan remained checked and lost its batsmen one after the other. It was only Imam who made 73 runs.

But the match came to a dramatic end when Pakistan was struggling to win but the Afghans were not allowing them. It was 2 balls and 2 runs when Imad Wasim, a bowler, hit a four to end the game in Pakistan's favour.

Pakistan thus won the match by three wickets. Imad scored 49 and was still on the crease when the match finished. On the other end was Wahab Riaz who added valuable 15 runs. Imad has rightly been declared player of the match.

Pakistan is now included in the first four teams, with Australia, India and New Zealand above Pakistan. Pakistan now plays its crucial match against Bangladesh on 5th July.

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Pakistan beat England and marches into ICC Champions Trophy Final

The winning embrace: Hafeez and Babar

It was a great day at Cardiff for Pakistan when it smashed the hosts' batting order line and restrict them to just 211 runs in 49.5 overs in the first semi final of ICC Champions Trophy being played in England. Bairstow scored 43 and Root 46.

Batting first, the English batting line miserably crumbled against superb bowling of Pakistani bowlers. Hassan took three wickets, while Junaid and Raees two wickets each.

Like their batsmen, the bowlers too could not contain Pakistani batsmen who played superbly with two half centuries of Azhar and Fakhar. Azhar scored 76 while Fakhar scored 56. Pakistan won by 8 wickets.

Hassan with 10 wickets in total tops the bowlers for the Golden Ball Award. Pakistan will face winner of second semi final (India vs Bangladesh) being played on 15 June.

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Pakistan beat England by 10 wickets at the Oval

It was a great day for Pakistan at the Oval when they beat England by 10 wickets to draw the series 2-2. Thus England missed an opportunity to win a series against Pakistan on its home grounds.

Pakistan just needed 42 runs to beat the hosts with superb performance of skipper Misbah and batsman Younis Khan. Younis (218) also became the second double-centurion of the series after Joe Root.

Younis Khan was declared man of the match while Misbah became a joint sharer of the man of the series award.While the batsmen played brilliantly, so did the bowlers bowled superbly, specially Wahaab Riz and Yasir.

Well done team Pakistan - a victory on the eve of independence day of Pakistan.

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Pakistan's leg spinner Yasir Shah ranked No. 1 after his devastating bowling spell against England at Lord's

Pakistan's thrashing of the hosts England at Lord's after 20 years has many other records in the making. While Misbah became the oldest player to score a century (at 42 years), there is someone more deadly in the Pakistan's squad - leg spinner Yasir Shah.

Yasir Shah bagged 10 wickets in the first test match against England at Lord's and moved from no.4 ranking straight to the top of the ranking chart to be first leg spinner in 11 years to reach to the top. He thus displaces England's James Anderson from the No. 1 spot in the ICC rankings for Test bowlers.

Before Yasir Shah's superb performance, it was Shane Warne who rose to the no.1 ranking slot in 2005. He is also the first Pakistani bowler since Mushtaq Ahmed who reached to this glory in 1996.

Cricinfo informs that Yasir has 86 wickets from 13 Tests - the most by any bowler after that many games - and has a chance of breaking a 120-year old record - the fastest to 100 Test wickets. George Lohmann, the England bowler, had reached the mark in 16 matches in 1896.

After Yasir's scaling the ranking list to the top, the present order of bowlers stands as under:

1 Yasir Shah, 2 R Ashwin, 3 James Anderson, 4 Stuart Broad, 5 Dale Steyn, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Trent Boult, 8 Josh Hazlewood, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Vernon Philander

Well done Yasir Shah - we pin our hopes on you to bag more victories for Pakistan in present England tour and beyond.

Source / Photo: AFP
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2nd Test between England - West Indies

The second test match between the West Indies and hosts England commences 25 May at Trent Bridge and will go on till 29th May. 

After winning over the Windies, the hosts look much confident to bag the series 3-0. While the visitors, speciall Chanderpaul gave a tough time to England, it is the England's batting depth that may not help the West Indians to look for easy victory in the second or even third test.

Playing at Trent Bridge would be in favour of the hosts as it provides extra support to the swingers. This would add pressure on the weak top order West Indian batting and early fall of major wickets.

England is likely to retain the same squad for the second test, while for West Indies, Gabriel is out for the series. Tino Best flew over from the Caribbean as a replacement but there is a greater likelihood of Ravi Rampaul's inclusion because of his experience. 

So let us watch the match at Trent Bridge, which commences 10:00 GMT everyday from 25-29 May.

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West Indies vs England: Watch Live First Test (2nd Day of Play) at Lord's

The first day of the First Test between the visiting West Indies cricket team against host England Thursday at Lord's was perhaps a disaster for the visitors. Having won the toss, the hosts elected to field and put the visitors to bat and the decision to field spoke for itself.

At stumps on Day-1, the West Indies were almost finished and were at 243 with none of their players back into the pavillion.

Had it not been for Chanderpaul's resilience and maginfiecnt 87, the Windies would have been fielding right on the first day of the five days test match. 

SCJ Broad was the most deadly of the English bowlers, who bagged six wickets for 72 with six maiden overs. JM Anderson took two.

Friday, the Day-2 is not likely to add much to the Windies first day total and bring the hosts to bat. Would the Windies able to contain the English the same way the hosts did Thursday?

Let us watch the match today, that commences 10:00 GMT

The links for the free live streaming of the match are given HERE!!

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England v West Indies: (First Test - Lord's 17-21 May)

OK it is back to cricket after a long spell. West Indies come to England to play their first test against the hosts scheduled from 17-21 May 2012 at the Lord's.

And with the first test, comes the news that Andrew Strauss is not thinking of quitting captaincy, rather he is determined to lead England even higher, a report says. “Stepping down is just not something I’ve thought about,” said Strauss ahead of Thursday's first Test against the West Indies. “I would certainly like to be in a position to know when the right time is."

England face three Tests against West Indies before three against South Africa knowing that defeat in either series will see the Proteas replace them as world number ones.

The likey opposing squads are as under:

England:

AJ Strauss*, JM Anderson, JM Bairstow, IR Bell, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, AN Cook, ST Finn, G Onions, KP Pietersen, MJ Prior†, GP Swann, IJL Trott

West Indies:

DJG Sammy*, KA Edwards, AB Barath, DM Bravo, S Chanderpaul, N Deonarine, FH Edwards, AB Fudadin, ST Gabriel, KOA Powell, D Ramdin†, R Rampaul, KAJ Roach, MN Samuels, S Shillingford

The first test between England and West Indies is scheduled from 17-21 May daily at 10:00 GMT / 11:00 BST

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England clinches T20 series from Pakistan in the hair-raisng last two overs

The last T20 match between Pakistan and England at Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zyed International stadium was awesome, interesting and hair-raising in the final overs of the play Monday.

Electing to bat, England was contained by Pakistan's bowlers and they could only give a target of 130 to Pakistan to follow. Except for Pietersen's 62 (not out), no other Englishman could withstand the Pakistan's bowlers onslaught. Saeed Ajmal bagged four wickets for 23.

When it came to Pakistan, all seemed to be going well till the 18th over. Pakistan was well poised to win with 4-107 with 23 needed off the last three overs and 17 off the remaining two. But then the resilience and superb bowling performance from England did its magic. Dernbach and Broad took the three important important wickets, Misbah being the last to be drastically clean bowled to end the game. Pakistan lost by 5 runs. Afridi was run out for 3.

 KP Pietersen (England) rightly claimed both titles -  Player of the match  and  Player of the series for his outstanding performance as a batsman.

England squad proudly flies back after clinching both ODI and T20 trophies. Pakistan comes back with the Test Series trophy, but with a heavy heart of losing miserably the other two trophies. England does deserve a good pat for their superb performance, even after lost the test series - which give them more confidence to win. On the other hand, Pakistan's over confidence and poor batting made them lose the ODIs and T20s.

The match ended England's long tour of the United Arab Emirates who now fly to Sri Lanka in two week's time ahead of their two-Test series, while Pakistan are next in action in the Asia Cup, which begins on March 11.

Pakistan's managers, selectors, trainers and captains will now have to do a lot of homework, chalking out their future strategy, besides training their batsman who are continuously failing in the limited over matches. 

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3rd T20 England vs Pakistan: Free Live Streaming Abu Dhabi 27 Feb 2012

And finally the last match between Pakistan and England is being played Monday, 27 February 2012 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. 

England and Pakistan went to cricket from 19 January, when they played their first test at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Pakistan teams was drumbeat about the 3:0 whitewash win over the Englishmen and were praised for their superb bowling and batting.  

But then suddenly something went wrong - terribly wrong for Pakistan. The four matches ODI series was a severe debacle which took out the euphoria of happiness, pride and winning spree from Pakistan squad as they lost all four matches miserably. While bowlers bowled extremely well, it seemed batsman were not in the winning mood. In none of the four ODIs, Pakistani batsmen clicked. Whereas on the other hand, the English squad played magnificently, confidently and professionally. England proudly whitewashed the ODI series and took a befitting revenge of their defeat in the test matches series.

Then came the T20s - many speculated that Pakistan will strike back scoring in tons - but what happened was disgusting and discouraging. The batsmen failed to win the first two matches, while bowlers with their excellent bowling helplessly watched their comrades coming back to pavilion one after the other as if in a hurry to go shopping.

Tomorrow is the last of the three match series T20 match to be played at Abu Dhabi, which brings an end to the England-Pakistan cricket. It remains to be seen on which note the game ends: whether Pakistan makes a last ditch 'do or die' effort to win tomorrow's match to win the T20 series or England outplays Pakistan and dumps Pakistani batsmen as they have done since the ODIs.

The likely opposing teams are as under:

England: SCJ Broad*, JM Anderson, JM Bairstow, RS Bopara, TT Bresnan, DR Briggs, JC Buttler†, JW Dernbach, ST Finn, AD Hales, C Kieswetter†, EJG Morgan, SR Patel, KP Pietersen, GP Swann

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq*, Abdur Rehman, Adnan Akmal†, Aizaz Cheema, Asad Shafiq, Awais Zia, Hammad Azam, Imran Farhat, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz

The match will be played at 16:00 GMT or 20:00 Local Time and 21:00 Pakistan Standard Time.

The links for the free live streaming of the third and last T20 match between England and Pakistan are given as herein under:

Link#1   Link#2   Link#3   Link#4

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Pakistan vs England - 2nd T20: Free Live Streaming from Dubai 25 Feb 2012

After a tit for tat whitewash ODI series win by England, the defeat in the first T20 match Thursday was a great shocker for the Englishmen. While they contended that limited overs matches were different from the test series and that ODIs were the platform to display their strengths, the same analogy could not apply to the T20 which was even more limited than ODIs when they lost to Pakistan.

But that was the first match, say the England squad members and have their sights set for the second 20 tomorrow at Dubai. However they have to find an answer to the superior Pakistan bowling. And there is not or two but quite a number of them to tackle. Umer Gul was in his best form in the frst T20 when he dismissed 3 for 18. Although five runs short of Swan who bagged 3 for 13, but Umer Gul's 3 wickets really flabbergasted the English middle order batsmen and they just crumbled one after the other.

On the other hand, Afridi, Ajmal, Hafeez really teased the Englishmen. After 15th over it seemed that England has virtually thrown over the match. 

But after the defeat, the English camp is really determined for a 2-1 win over Pakistan and the onus lies on their bowlers to not to allow the rather weak batting line to score more Saturday tomorrow in the second T20. But that is just a resolve and determination. What actually happens on ground is altogether a different ballgame. 

The win has given Pakistan confidence that was lost after the ODI series and they would certainly want to cash on it in the second match to win the series so that the taste of 3-0 test series win doesn't get spoiled.

The venue and time remain the same: Dubai International Stadium at 1600 GMT

Pakistan Squad against England in 2nd T20 is as under:

Misbah-ul-Haq (c),Abdur Rehman,Adnan Akmal (wk),Aizaz Cheema,Asad Shafiq,Awais Zia,Hammad Azam,Imran Farhat,Junaid Khan,Mohammad Hafeez,Saeed Ajmal,Shahid Afridi,Shoaib Malik,Umar Akmal,Umar Gul,Wahab Riaz

As for England, following is likely to be the squad against Pakistan:

Stuart Broad (c),James Anderson,Jonny Bairstow,Ravi Bopara,Tim Bresnan,Danny Briggs,Jos Buttler (wk),Jade Dernbach,Steven Finn,Alex Hales,Craig Kieswetter ,Eoin Morgan,Samit Patel,Kevin Pietersen,Graeme Swann

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England vs Pakistan: T20 Series - First Match 23 Feb Free Live Streaming

And finally it was England's turn to whitewash the ODI series against Pakistan. In Tuesday's match Pakistan seemed to be in good shape till the fifth wicket but then it was disaster all the way. Choosing to bat, Pakistan could make 237 - but it also proved to be much for the England this time as the match ended in England's favour with only four balls remaining. 

Well played England all along in the ODI series and congratulations for the first ODI whitewash.

As for Pakistan, the batsmen failed again and could not capitalize on the initial good score. Asad and Umar Akmal added beautiful 58 and 65 and later Misbah who added 46 to the score. But thereafter nothing happened. Afridi was back home with only 9 and could not Boom Boom despite many placards insisting him to. Dernbach was the most successful bowler taking four wickets for 45. Finn and Briggs took two each. 

On the other hand, it was Pietersen's day again who stroked beautifully and made his consecutive centurey like Cook in the first two ODIs and made remarkable 130. But that was lla as no other English batsman was able to add anything recordable except Kieswetter who added valuable 43. 

In a way England was not up to its mark today and could barely reach the target with just four balls remaining. Saeed Ajmal did make stay uneasy for the Englishmen who took 3 for 62.

Well then, it is all over with 4:0 whitewash win for England - the revenge for Test Series whitewash adequately and befittingly taken.

Now it is T20s coming from Thursday, 23 February. England is well tuned and primed now for limited overs matches and one can foresee difficult days for Pakistan ahead. Unless Pakistan batsmen play responsibly, Pakistan would be in danger in the T20s too. 

The opposing teams are composed as under:


England: SCJ Broad*, JM Anderson, JM Bairstow, RS Bopara, TT Bresnan, DR Briggs, JC Buttler†, AN Cook, JW Dernbach, ST Finn, AD Hales, C Kieswetter†, EJG Morgan, SR Patel, KP Pietersen, GP Swann

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq*, Abdur Rehman, Adnan Akmal†, Aizaz Cheema, Asad Shafiq, Awais Zia, Hammad Azam, Imran Farhat, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz

The first match is being played at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on 23 February at 16:00 GMT. 

The live streaming links for the match are given below:

Link#1  Link#2  Link#3. Link#4  Link#5

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4th ODI Pakistan vs England: Watch Live on Line

Although today's ODI between Pakistan and England is insignificant to most of the fans since England has already won the four ODI series by 3-0 and Pakistan lost vice a versa.  Nevertheless, fans would like to see whether its is a whitewash or Pakistan still tries to win over the Englishmen as a last resort.

Although disappointed by the ODI series dismal performance, Pakistan coach Mohsin and captain Misbah looked determined to avoid a whitewash on Monday. Misbah is quoted as saying:

I will not take away any credit from England but we have to look at ourselves and we need to raise our standards in all three departments to defeat.

Eoin Morgan on the other hand is hopeful of a good opportunity to blank Pakistan.

"There's certainly an opportunity to do that. We do want to win 4-0 and if the opportunity arises we could give players (reserves) a bit of experience, but the priority is to win the game."

So let us see now what unfolds today at Dubai. But many speculate that Englishmen would carry the day as they are in a superb winning form and would not let this golden chance slip away of an ODI whitewash victory over Pakistan.

The match is being played at Dubai at 11:00 GMT.

The opposing teams include:

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Adnan Akmal, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman.

England: Alastair Cook (captain), Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Eoin Morgan, Craig Kieswetter, Jos Buttler, Samit Patel, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach.

Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena, Sri Lanka, and Zameer Haider, Pakistan.

The free live streaming link for today's match is as under:

Link

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Third ODI Pakistan vs England: Would Pakistan Strike Back?: Watch Live Online 18 Feb 2012

Would England strike again or Pakistan would rebound? This is the question every cricket fan is asking both in Pakistan and England today.

The euphoria of the 3:0 test win over England and much trumpeted whitewash notion seems to have now turned into a nightmare for Pakistan who have by now lost both ODI of a 4-ODI series at the hands of rebounding England. Although the winning margin of England is reduced from 130 (first ODI) to 20 runs (2nd ODI), the Cook-Finn combination has maintained their winning pressure on Pakistan in both ODIs and have been the winning combination.

The Danger Men from England: Cook - Finn - Bopara

While Cook struck massively and scored impressive 102 runs, this being his consecutive 2nd hundred - Bopara added supportive 58 in the 2nd ODI at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on 15 February 2012. Pakistan's spinner this time failed to contain the Brits and no meaningful bowling results could be attributed to Pakistan spinners.

On the other hand Finn again struck the Pakistani squad and dismantled four for 34. Misbah was the only Pakistani batsman who neared 50 and was back to pavilion for 47. Much to the annoyance of the fans, Shahid afridi could not BOOM BOMM and was packed up at 18.

The likely 'Difference Makers': Afridi - Misbah - Ajmal

Now that Pakistan meets England again on Saturday 18 Feb 2012 at Dubai, Pakistan needs to address its weak fielding and batting. The top order batsmen need to be in control right from the start and bowlers, who seems to have run out of their steam need to invigorate it to strike back the Englishmen. While England seems to be well poised fr a third victory over Pakistan with the present arrangements, Bopara cautions for a hitting back by Pakistan - but would Pakistan? That is a million dollar question. 

In the third ODI on 18 february at Dubai, much of the onus lies on Misbah and Younus and to an extent on Shahid Afridi, if he strikes well. Saeed Ajmal and A Rehman would have strike back as they did in the first ODI and in the test matches.


It is also to be seen whether the change of pitch from Abu Dhabi to Dubai makes any meaningful difference to Pakistan or not.

The likely opposing squads are:

England:
AN Cook, C Kieswetter, IJL Trott, KP Pietersen, EJG Morgan, RS Bopara, SR Patel, SCJ Broad, GP Swann, TT Bresnan, ST Finn,  

Pakistan:
M Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Younus Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afrid, Abdur rehman, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz or Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal

The match commences 11:00 GMT at Dubai stadium.

The links for the free live streaming are given as herein under:

Link#1  Link#2  Link#3 

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Disability Cricket: Pakistan outplays England by 79 runs

While Pakistan had a bad day at Abu Dhabi's 2nd ODI against England and lost to give the Englishmen a 2-0 lead in the 4-ODI series, we perhaps lost sight of another important match being played in the UAE at International Cricket Council Global Cricket Academy Oval ground in Dubai. 

The match on Wednesday was played between teams of Pakistan and England as part of the Disability Cricket series of matches.

Pakistan’s Matloob Quraishi (left) and Hasnain Alam during the match against the England in Dubai Wednesday [Image Credit: Pankaj Sharma/Gulf News]

Pakistan simply outplayed England and won the first of the three matches by a large margin of 79 runs. Hasnain and Matloob from Pakistan hit impressive centuries despite their disability. Hasnain, who lost his left foot in a mine blast, cracked 136 off just 105 balls with the help of 19 boundaries and a six, while Matloob whose right hand had to be amputated following a road accident, hit an unbeaten 110-ball 113, as Pakistan put up 285 for five in their allotted 40 overs.

England had a difficult target to chase and none of its batsmen could replicate the superb performance of Hsnaain and Matloob and lost by 79 runs.

Read details: Gulf News

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Pakistan vs England: 2nd ODI 15 Feb Abu Dhabi - Watch Live Online

Those coming here for 3rd ODI between Pakistan and England, please click Here

Over confidence always kills - and this is very true inc case of Pakistan. When Pakistan team whitewashed the test matches series against England, everyone seemed jubilant of defeating the World Number 1 - for some Pakistan looked over confident to repeat the same performance in the four matches ODIs series. 

And the very first ODI came as a stunning reality. While Pakistani spin bowlers bowled superbly, specially Saeed Ajmal (5) and Shahid Afridi (2) and contained the England squad at a reachable 260 target, the Pakistani batsmen miserably failed. Top four batsmen were sent back to pavilion just in the first five overs of Steve Finn.

ODIs and Test matches are altogether a different ballgame, and Pakistani batsmen do not seem to have the practice and approach to handle ODI professionally. While bowlers may perform as before, it is the batsmen who have to come forward to make runs and win. Unless Misbah, who himself could not deliver, has an offensive strategy in the second ODI on 15 February at Abu Dhabi, he may get ready for another setback.

England seems to have overcome the shock of the test-matches defeat and have learnt their lesson well. They will try to undo Pakistan's spinner attacks and score a hefty target and then unleash a counter spin-crusade to contain Pakistani batsmen as they did in the first ODI.

The likely opposing squads for the second ODI are as under:

England:

AN Cook, JM Anderson, JM Bairstow, RS Bopara, TT Bresnan, DR Briggs, SCJ Broad, JC Buttler, JW Dernbach, ST Finn, C Kieswetter, EJG Morgan, SR Patel, KP Pietersen, GP Swann, IJL Trott

Pakistan:

Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdur Rehman, Adnan Akmal, Aizaz Cheema, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Hammad Azam, Imran Farhat, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Younis Khan

Let us watch the second ODI between England and Pakistan, live from Sheikh Zayed stadium, Abu Dhabi at 11:00 GMT on 15 Feb, and see whether Pakistan strikes back or not.

The links for the free live streaming are given herein under:

Link#1  Link#2  Link#3

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England Spins Out Pakistan Top Order Batsmen to win the first ODI

After complete ascendancy over the English squad in the test matches series, everyone thought England will be spun out of the ODIs as well - but the first ODI between Pakistan and England has proved the prediction and speculation utterly wrong.

What happened in Sheikh Zayed stadium a Abu Dhabi was entire different. Though Pakistani spinner Ajmal and Afridi did strike and took away seven wickets and restricted the English to achievable target of 260, the English bowlers struck harder than the Pakistanis. Pakistan struggled to stay on the crease but were sent back for mere 130 in the 36th over. England joyfully won the first ODI with a lead of 130 runs. Cook performed brilliantly and scored a century and collected 137 runs. In fact England's victory today is attributed to Cook as no other batsman could add any praiseworthy addition except Bopara who managed his half century and was out at 50.

Like Saeed Ajmal who took five wickets of the middle order batsmen, it was Steve Finn who destroyed four of the  Pakistan top order batsmen in his first five overs. Of all the four, Umar's 39-ball innings was the longest of today's dismal performance by Pakistan batsmen.

Shahid Afridi with his Boob Boom was the highest scorer - he was caught for 28. With Shahid gone, the rest of the team crumbled like a pack of cards and hurried back to pavilion.

At the end of the play, Pakistan's Misbah felt frustrated, but was optimistic to strike back in the second ODI to be played Wednesday. England on the other hand has all reasons to be happy and claiming as they needed a break in the ODIs for they have lost to Indians all five ODis earlier. The 3-0 test series loss made them frustrated and injured and they dearly wanted a return into the game - which they did today.

So we wait for the second ODI on Wednesday and see whether injured pride of Pakistan returns them to a winning mood or not. Congratulations to England for a superb play, specially in bowling today.

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Pakistan vs England: First ODI 13 Feb - Watch Live from Abu Dhabi

Those coming here for 3rd ODI between Pakistan and England, please click Here

Pakistan takes on rather subdued England in the first ODI in  Abu Dhabi today, 13 February 2012.

Pakistan has had a tremendous morale boosting ascendancy over England after an enormous 3-0 win the est series. Pakistan has a spinner heavy bowling side with the coming back of Shahid Afridi who will join Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman in today's ODI.

However, with Afridi back in the side, Rehman could miss out on selection as the former skipper, along with Hafeez and Ajmal are the favoured spinners. Umar Gul is one of the best ODI bowlers in world cricket - it remains to be seen who joins him for the attack from amongst Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan and Aizaz Cheema.

Alastair Cook takes over as captain of the British team from Andrew Strauss and leads a squad that welcomes Samit Patel, Tim Bresnan, Jade Dernbach, Craig Kieswetter, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Danny Briggs.

Cook, who had a 5-0 bashing from India, seems confident to make it over for the demoralized English squad and fans back home:

"It's been a tough five weeks as a Test tour but this is now a different, fresh side and hopefully we can bring that enthusiasm into the game tomorrow." 

The last 5- series ODI between Pakistan and England in 2010 favoured England who won the series 3-2. But those were different times and different team members. For now, Pakistan teams seems well settled, cohesive, highly motivated and in the most superb winning form. We look forward to an interesting 4-ODI series starting today, Monday.

Probable Squads

Pakistan: 
Misbah-ul-Haq*, Abdur Rehman, Adnan Akmal†, Aizaz Cheema, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Hammad Azam, Imran Farhat, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Younis Khan

England: 
AN Cook*, JM Anderson, JM Bairstow, RS Bopara, TT Bresnan, DR Briggs, SCJ Broad, JC Buttler†, JW Dernbach, ST Finn, C Kieswetter†, EJG Morgan, SR Patel, KP Pietersen, GP Swann, IJL Trott

The match is scheduled to begin at 15:00 local time (11:00 GMT)


The free live streaming links for the first ODI between Pakistan and England are given as herein under:

Link#1  Link#2  Link#3  Link#4

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Pakistan vs England - Now its ODIs from 13 February

The ongoing cricket between Pakistan and England in Dubai has reinvigorated spirits of Pakistan team as well as distant spectators in Pakistan as the complete whitewash of the World Number 1 England hasn't been an easy feat to accomplish. Although, this is Pakistan's 5th whitewash in a series consisting of 3 or more matches, it's Pakistan's first whitewash ever against England.

While each member of the team shares the mammoth victory in the test series over England, it is the two spinners, Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman, who completely baffled the English batsmen and sent them packing to pavilion one after the other. 

The superb performance of Younis and Azhar must be made mention of who have added galore to the fine work of spinners and have made tremendous contribution in making the on-going cricket between Pakistan and England memorable. Misbah has also emerged as a successful captain, whose leadership has kept the team united, cohesive and spirited.

With the 3-0 test series win, Pakistan has reached 108 points in test rankings and is now just 3 points short of claiming the 3rd place in the international ranking. away from 3rd spot. But the road is too dusty and difficult ahead. Unless Pakistan ensures not to let out its present steam, it can be assured of moving upward and claim the a honour of being in the first three soon.

The ODIs that start from tomorrow, 13 February 2012, are also important for Pakistan. Unlike test matches, ODIs demand extreme concentration, lively batting, quick runs and extensive boundary shots. It is in this battle of wits that one may lose wickets, unless batsmen are very clear in their handling of each ball. Shahid Afridi is back into the team and much is expected of him, both as a batsman and a bowler. His bowling should augment that of Ajmal and Rehman to make quick dismissals. While he is also expected to contribute extensively in his batting abilities to provide enormous edge over the Brits. 

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England vs Pakistan: ODI Squad announced

The ongoing tour of Pakistan and England cricket teams has turned out ot be interesting and historical. The humiliating 3-0 defeat in the test matches series of the World Number 1 England at the hands of the Pakistan has been flashing headlines around the world.

The third test will be remembered for it was both hair-raising and historical. Hair-raising because in the first innings, Pakistan was back in pavilion for just 99. Historical because the Pakistan batsman stood firm against England bowling onslaught and won the match by 71 runs - making history since 1907 no team has ever won a match after scoring less than 100.

Now all eyes are set on the four limited over matches (ODIs) that the two teams will play in Dubai, starting 13 February later next week.

Shahid Afridi, aka Boom Boom Afridi, has been included in the Pakistan squad and it is hoped that he enthralls the arena with his super shots once again - though many would want him to cool-cool Afridi since in in his enthusiasm and prompted by the yelling crowds for hitting sixes and fours, he normally gives out easy catches and goes back into the pavilion. 

Both sides have announced their squads, which are as under:

Pakistan:

Misbah ul Haq (Captain), Younis Khan, Shahid Khan Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Hammad Azam, Azhar Ali.

England:

Alastair Cook (Captain), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter(wk), Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pieterson, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott.

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Cricket: World Number 1 humiliated at Dubai

The 3-0 win the three test matches series by Pakistan humiliates world number 1 England with the final win by 71 runs by Pakistan in Dubai today. 

Pakistan having won the first two test matches had to face a stunning blow by the English spinners on the first day of the 3rd test match at Dubai when Pakistan was dismantled for mere 99 runs. Many thought that England had avenged Pakistani spinners by striking back. Many also thought that the 3rd test match may not see the fourth day and Pakistan might be subdued.

[ Jubilant Pakistani bowlers and losing English batsmenPhotos: Cricinfo]

But when England came to bat, they were thoroughly roughed by Pakistani bowlers and were all back in pavilion for 141. Then came Pakistan and were straightaway under pressure when toe openers were hurriedly packed up by the Brits. It was Younis and Azhar who put Pakistan in a commanding position and both hit centuries, first of their kind since the first test match of the present series. Younis's 127 and azhar's 157 added a tall target fr England to chase. Though the Englishmen thought it was chasable and doable.

Today, however, things changed rapidly- Umar Gul struck hard and so did Saeed Ajmal and both took four wickets each. Abdur Rehamn was on the heels and took the remaining two wickets to send world number one packing with 71 runs still remaining.

Today's victory of Pakistan also is historical: Since 1907, there has been no team which had scored less than 100 in the first innings and still won the test. Today's match will be remembered in the annals of test history for dozens of wickets falling in succession and a much lower ranking cricket team (Pakistan is number 5) humiliating world number 1 with a complete whitewash.

Now we wait for the ODIs, the first one to start on 13 February. The ODIs are going to be more fun than the test matches - with an injured English squad taking on jubilant Pakistan. We will meet on 13th.

Related: Pakistan secures series whitewash

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