Hafeez leads way as Pak post 348-8 against England
Nottingham (AFP): Mohammad Hafeez missed out on becoming the first century-maker of the World Cup but a vastly improved batting display from Pakistan saw them make 348 for eight against England at Trent Bridge on Monday.
Hafeez made the most of a reprieve when Jason Roy floored a routine chance at mid-off following a skied drive off Adil Rashid, with the batsman on 14. He went on to score 84 off 62 balls.
With Babar Azam (63) and Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed (55) also making fifties, this was a major turnaround from a Pakistan side who collapsed to 105 all out in a seven-wicket defeat by the West Indies in their World Cup opener at the same ground on Friday.
Pakistan were undone by a barrage of bouncers against the West Indies and England, unsurprisingly, deployed similar tactics after captain Eoin Morgan won the toss, with their attack featuring recalled fast bowler Mark Wood.
But Pakistan coped well on a ground where England had twice set a world record for the highest one-day international total -- 444 for three against Pakistan in 2016 and last year's 481 for six against Australia.
Yet having failed to defend a score of 340 against England -- the world's top-ranked ODI side -- at Trent Bridge last month, the worry for Pakistan was that they may not have put enough runs on the board.
For all the talk about England's quicks, it was off-spinner Moeen Ali who took the first three wickets on Monday on his way to figures of three for 50. By contrast, fast bowler Jofra Archer's 10 wicketless overs cost 79 runs while Woakes, who equalled the record of four catches by an outfielder in a World Cup innings, took an expensive three for 71 in eight overs.
Sloppy fielding: Tournament favourites England were surprisingly sloppy with their ground fielding. Pakistan, who have lost their past 11 completed one-day internationals, including a 4-0 series defeat to England, went on the attack from the start, with Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq giving their side early momentum.
But a stand of 82 ended when Fakhar was stumped by Jos Buttler off Moeen for 36. Imam holed out for 44 when he lofted Moeen only for Woakes, running round from long-off, to hold an excellent diving catch.
The normally mild-mannered Woakes turned to the crowd and cupped his ears in what appeared to be a response to barracking from spectators. Babar completed a run-a-ball fifty before he too fell to the Moeen-Woakes combination while Hafeez, cashing in on his reprieve, hit a six and four off successive balls from leg-spinner Rashid on his way to a 39-ball fifty.
Hafeez lofted a loose legside delivery from Wood for six to go into the 80s, only to fall when he drove a catch to Woakes at long-off. But Sarfaraz maintained the momentum with a 40-ball fifty.
Scoreboard
Pakistan
Imam-ul-Haq c Woakes b Ali 44
Fakhar Zaman st Buttler b Ali 36
Babar Azam c Woakes b Ali 63
Mohammad Hafeez c Woakes b Wood 84
Sarfaraz Ahmed c and b Woakes 55
Asif Ali c Bairstow b Wood 14
Shoaib Malik c Morgan b Woakes 8
Wahab Riaz c Root b Woakes 4
Hasan Ali not out 10
Shadab Khan not out 10
Extras (b1, lb8, w11) 20
Total (For 8 wickets, 50 overs) 348
Fall of wickets: 1-82, 2-111, 3-199, 4-279, 5-311, 6-319, 7-325, 8-337. Bowling: Woakes 8-1-71-3 (2w), Archer 10-0-79-0 (4w), Ali 10-0-50-3, Wood 10-0-53-2 (2w), Stokes 7-0-43-0, Rashid 5-0-43-0 (1w). \
England
J Roy lbw b Shadab Khan 8
J Bairstow c Sarfaraz Ahmed b Wahab Riaz 32
J Root c Mohammad Hafeez b Shadab Khan 107
E Morgan b Mohammad Hafeez 9
B Stokes c Sarfaraz Ahmed b Shoaib Malik 13
J Buttler c Wahab Riaz b Mohammad Amir 103
M Ali c Fakhar Zaman b Wahab Riaz 19
C Woakes c Sarfaraz Ahmed b Wahab Riaz 21
J Archer c Wahab Riaz b Mohammad Amir 1
A Rashid not out 3
M Wood not out 10
Extras: (lb 3, w 5) 8
Total (For 9 wickets, 50 Overs) 334
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-60, 3-86, 4-118, 5-248, 6-288, 7-320, 8-320, 9-322
Bowling: Shadab Khan 10-0-63-2, Mohammad Amir 10-0-67-2, Wahab Riaz 10-0-82-3, Hasan Ali 10-0-66-0, Mohammad Hafeez 7-0-43-1, Shoaib Malik 3-0-10-1.