Excellent with the bat (in the main), excellent with the ball (by and large) and excellent in the field (give or take), this was an emphatic win for England
Well, that was … straightforward. England won the toss, their innings started well, and their day just got better and better. They could have reached a bigger total – Wahab and Irfan bowled brilliantly towards the end of their innings – but at no point did Pakistan look like getting close to their target, as England’s seamers started excellently and Rashid made sure there was no sudden acceleration thereafter. And so it’s 1-1, halfway through the four-game series, and all to play for. Match three is next Tuesday, and it’ll all be wrapped up next Friday. See you next week!
45.5 overs: Pakistan 188 all out
Topley’s first ball is sent flying over midwicket by Yashir Shah for a hefty six, and he just keeps swinging from there, though with less success: one complete miss, and then a miscued single. Irfan changes his bat before he’s even faced a ball, which must be some kind of record, and is then profoundly yorked second ball.
45th over: Pakistan 181-9 (Yasir 8)
Yasir has been the most positive and sprightly Pakistan batsman on show here, and he reacts well to spot a slow ball, delay his shot and take a single. Sarfraz certainly doesn’t spot the slow ball that comes next.
A slower ball, a top edge, and an easy catch. Sarfraz’s innings stands out like a giraffe in a lemming-field on this scorecard, but his effort’s long become irrelevant and now he can have himself a nice sit down, and ask himself if such a thing as a lemming-field exists.
44th over: Pakistan 178-8 (Sarfraz 63, Yasir 7)
Sarfraz gets but a single off Topley’s first three deliveries, but then Yasir pummels the ball to the extra cover boundary for four, struck sweetly and powerfully. “I am drawn to Steve Ditchburn’s comment in the 47th over of England’s innings decrying that they hadn’t pushed on to reach 330,” writes Robert Darby. “I couldn’t agree more. Had they done so, Pakistan would now be chasing a target of over 20 an over instead of a paltry, er, 15 (now 17.66, in fact).” It’s easy to be wise after the event, though. England scored poorly towards the end of their innings, and couldn’t possibly have known that, as it turns out, they could pretty much have stopped with 10 overs to go and still won the game.
43rd over: Pakistan 172-8 (Sarfraz 62, Yasir 2)
Woakes replaces Moeen Ali, bowling at Yasir Shah – and Pakistan might have lost another wicket in their desperation to get Sarfraz on strike after Yasir nudges towards cover – a direct hit would have done for him there. There’s no direct hit, and two twos and a single follow.
42nd over: Pakistan 166-8 (Sarfraz 57, Yasir 1)
Willey bowls, Sarfraz clips off his pads, sweetly timed, and just past a diving fielder at deep midwicket for four. Much of the crowd has already left, but those remaining are doing an excellent job of cheering every Pakistan run and they get another single to shout about before Sarfraz loses one more partner.
A shortish delivery from Willey. Wahab Riaz swings his bat across the line and top-edges the ball high into the dark night sky, giving Buttler time to get underneath it before it plops down to earth.
41st over: Pakistan 158-7 (Sarfraz 50, Wahab 5)
Moeen’s final over. “Send Marc Troy the names of the England seamers – because they’re cleaning up here!” writes Gary Naylor as Wahab Riaz, inspired perhaps by all this talk of cleaning, tries to sweep. It doesn’t really come off, but he gets a couple of runs anyway, and a few moments later Sarfraz completes his half-century. The required run rate is now precisely and exactly 14.
40th over: Pakistan 152-7 (Sarfraz 48, Wahab 1)
England passed 150 in over No29. Pakistan get there in over 40, and now need 13.20 an over if they’re to win this. “Like most of those OBOers who email in, I strive for comedy, insight or passionate cricket nostalgia,” writes Robert Wilson. “I play around with form and eccentric digression. Anything to amuse or delight. It’s a strange pursuit and sometimes a mind-racking effort early in the morning or late at night. Why do we do it? In search of the ultimate OBO email? Well, all that is over now. Marc Troy (36th Over) has just walked away with the prize of the best email any of you have ever received. Multipurpose cleaning products! The guy’s a genius. I could weep.”
39th over: Pakistan 146-7 (Sarfraz 43, Wahab 0)
Bosh! Anwar hits Moeen over cow corner for six! Woakes tries to run round to field it, but a ginger cat gets in his way as it sprints across the outfield. Even the cat can’t stop him two balls later, though.
Anwar Ali, having scored one six already this over, hits down the ground in search of a second! He doesn’t get it.
38th over: Pakistan 139-6 (Sarfraz 42, Anwar 17)
Willey, whose first five-over spell brought two wickets and cost seven runs, returns. Good variety of pace and line frustrates the batsmen: Anwar tickles the ball fine, but a diving Buttler gets a tiny bit of glove to it and it’s fielded by third man, and then another single later he tries to heave through the covers, mishits and gets another single. The required run rate slips past 12 as drinks are taken.
37th over: Pakistan 135-6 (Sarfraz 40, Anwar 15)
“Bowling a real tight line,” says Boycott of Moeen on Sky, forgetting the two wides in the over. His last two have gone for a combined 21, or 15.56% of Pakisan’t total. “A decent showing by Cook on the Flight Simulator round,” says Tom Hopkins. “Do they do the Observation round or the Assault Course next?” Ah yes, the Krypton Factor. Those were the days, eh, what.
36th over: Pakistan 125-6 (Sarfraz 37, Anwar 12)
Topley puts the brakes back on, two runs off the over and the run rate up to 11.35. “My name is Marc Troy and I am looking for multipurpose cleaning products,” writes Marc Troy. “Could you kindly send me a price list and also availability.” You what?
35th over: Pakistan 123-6 (Sarfraz 36, Anwar 11)
Back-to-back boundaries! Sarfraz with the first, hoisting the ball over midwicket, and then he tries to sweep Moeen’s next delivery, misses, and the ball disappears for four byes. Add another three, as Sarfraz spears towards the deep point boundary but Rashid just about chases it down, and you’ve got yourself an 11-run over! The run chase starts here!
34th over: Pakistan 112-6 (Sarfraz 30, Anwar 11)
Topley bowls. Four runs. As Pakistan still look for take-off, looks like a couple of England cricketers have just completed their landing:
Captain Cooks attempted landing in @EtihadAirways amazing simulator. I tried to film it steady but it wasn't easy! pic.twitter.com/kqKPIGm80e
33rd over: Pakistan 108-6 (Sarfraz 27, Anwar 10)
Moeen bowls. Four more singles scored. The most Pakistan have scored off any over is eight – a feat they’ve achieved twice. They now need 10.35 an over, but first things first: can they get double figures once? You never know, it might open the floodgates.
32nd over: Pakistan 104-6 (Sarfraz 25, Anwar 8)
They’ve done it! A hundred runs! Topley returns, and leaks a few singles (and a leg bye), and at the end of the over the required run rate stands at precisely and exactly 10 an over. And I’ve finally got an answer (of sorts) to the question I posed back in over seven – and it’s from our very own Mike Selvey: “Don’t know who the world’s luckiest human is, unless it is that bloke in Yosemite who kept getting struck by lightning. But I do know that I was the world’s most unlucky bowler. Gus disputes that but I know it for a fact.”
31st over: Pakistan 99-6 (Sarfraz 22, Anwar 7)
Moeen is milked for a few singles, and then Anwar Ali inside-edges just wide of his stumps and away for a streaky four. Pakistan stand on the verge of a triple-figure score, (at least) 15 overs later than England reached that milestone. “Not that I’m not absurdly confident in all things England, but that hole Pakistan find themselves in probably needs to get a bit deeper before they uncover the door that will let them out of this metaphor and onto a memorable victory,” notes Ian Copestake.
30th over: Pakistan 91-6 (Sarfraz 20, Anwar 2)
Rashid’s final over brings an lbw appeal against Anwar Ali, turned down by the umpire. It looked a good shout, but there’s no review – and slow-mos suggest there may have been a slight edge. Then his last delivery of the day goes straight through everything, past batsman and Buttler and rolls off towards the boundary, though it doesn’t quite reach it.
29th over: Pakistan 86-6 (Sarfraz 19, Anwar 1)
Sarfraz sweeps to a deserted long leg for four, Pakistan’s fourth boundary of the innings and probably their finest.
28th over: Pakistan 79-6 (Sarfraz 14, Anwar 0)
Anwar tries to take a single off the last, and had plenty of time to do so, but Sarfraz sends him back. Rashid’s ninth over brings his first wicket, but he’s bowled well tonight.
Pakistan’s hole gets a little deeper, as Rashid adds a little pace, slides one straight on, and Rizwan leans back, gets his timing all wrong and edges it very slightly into his own stumps.
27th over: Pakistan 79-5 (Rizwan 17, Sarfraz 13)
Pakistan nearly get four more! They don’t, though, because Topley slides to stop it, perhaps a foot from the rope. Still, nearly-four is better than not-even-nearly-four, in some ways. The required run rate is now 8.91 an over, and rising fast.
26th over: Pakistan 76-5 (Rizwan 15, Sarfraz 12)
Pakistan nearly got a boundary here. But then it was fielded on the rope, over at deep square leg, so they only got two. That’s the way it’s rolling at the moment.
25th over: Pakistan 72-5 (Rizwan 12, Sarfraz 11)
Rizwan mistimes a sweep, but though the ball thumps him in the middle of the pad it was certainly on its way wide of leg stump, and there’s no sniff of a wicket. England are ripping through the overs here, and the match is flying away from Pakistan – halfway through their innings England were on 139-1, and though they got bogged down towards the end, it’s certainly preferable to being bogged down throughout.
24rd over: Pakistan 70-5 (Rizwan 12, Sarfraz 10)
We continue to wait for an assault that isn’t coming. Pakistan add another three to their total and need 8.23 runs an over from here on in.
23rd over: Pakistan 67-5 (Rizwan 12, Sarfraz 7)
Moeen Ali bowls for the first time, and the batsmen continue to not make hay. Indeed, Pakistan’s hay production this evening has been extremely poor all round. Though you could say that a few of them have bailed.
22nd over: Pakistan 66-5 (Rizwan 12, Sarfraz 6)
Pakistan score three more singles, so the over can hardly be counted as a great success, but Rizwan’s great escape means it certainly could have got worse.
The ball would have clattered leg stump pretty much full on, but it comes out as an umpire’s call by the most tiny of margins, and England lose a review! Bah!
England think so! The umpire – the error prone (today at least) Shozan Raza didn’t!
21st over: Pakistan 63-5 (Rizwan 11, Sarfraz 4)
A boundary! And it’s the first for one ball short of 10 overs, since midway through over 11, Rizwan – who scored more in this one over (7) than Pakistan as a team had from any previous over of this match – pulling wide of square leg.
20th over: Pakistan 55-5 (Rizwan 4, Sarfraz 3)
If Pakistan are going to win this, anyone watching this is about to have a lot of fun. Singles alone – and there are four from Rashid’s fifth over – aren’t going to cut the mustard, what with them now requiring 7.63 an over.
19th over: Pakistan 51-5 (Rizwan 2, Sarfraz 1)
Sarfraz works Woakes’ final delivery to third man for a single, denying the bowler a wicket maiden.
Last six matches: 0-72 0-64 0-57 0-37 0-22 0-40 So far today: 3-15 Woakes gets his 50th ODI wicket! https://t.co/80xP59wmd9#PAKvENG
Chris Woakes’ 50th ODI wicket leaves Pakistan 50 for 5. That’s as many fives as you can squeeze into a sentence, in all likelihood. Azhar Ali tries to drive a wide one, and bottom edges back into his own stumps! Pakistan are in a pretty deep hole here.
18th over: Pakistan 50-4 (Azhar 22, Rizwan 2)
Rizwan sweeps his first ball fine for a couple, a nice shot first up. Beyond that, there’s a couple of singles, with Rashid ending the over with a couple of fine deliveries that Rizwan can’t pick.
17th over: Pakistan 46-4 (Azhar 21)
After the fourth ball of the 17th over – precisely a third of the way through the innings – Pakistan have 45 runs, and are thus on course for a tally of 135. Though of course they’d have run out of wickets by then. England at this stage had a nice, round 100 runs and were yet to lose a wicket.
The final ball of the over sees Shoaib Malik decide it’s about time he hit his first boundary, so he takes a bit of a swing, and it comes off the bottom of the bat and flies straight to Taylor at midwicket.
16th over: Pakistan 41-3 (Azhar 18, Shoaib Malik 11)
Rashid bowls, and the batsmen take a couple more singles. At the end of the over the broadcasters take an extended look at what cuddly toys fans have brought to the ground today. The cricket’s not that bad, surely?
15th over: Pakistan 39-3 (Azhar 17, Shoaib Malik 10)
Just one dot here, though there should have been two – one was ruined when the fielder at third man raced in to field the ball, picked it up and then threw it at the stumps – it hits, with Shoaib Malik’s bat grounded, and deflects away to allow the batsmen to take a single.
14th over: Pakistan 34-3 (Azhar 16, Shoaib Malik 7)
Rashid’s driving the fast train to singletown and the batsmen punch their tickets and climb on board. Though to be fair, there’s a two in that over, and also a couple of dots.
Rashid misses out on 4th wicket after Malik, initially out lbw, survives on review. https://t.co/VGqwXNXqvh#PAKvENGpic.twitter.com/mtgwimBlUm
It would indeed have missed leg stump – by the tiniest of margins, perhaps a centimetre – so Shoaib Malik gets a lifeline!
The umpire raises his finger, but it looked a close call – I thought the ball might have missed leg stump. The batsmen review – and we’re about to find out!
13th over: Pakistan 29-3 (Azhar 15, Shoaib Malik 3)
Pakistan may yet win this, of course, but this has been an extremely timid first quarter-and-a-bit (not-quite-a-third?) of the innings. Shoaib Malik barely even attempts to score runs here, before eventually taking a single to cover off the last.
12th over: Pakistan 28-3 (Azhar 15, Shoaib Malik 2)
Rashid, whose nine overs in the first match went for a devilish 6.66 apiece (a little less than Pakistan require here), brings some spin. Four singles off it.
11th over: Pakistan 24-3 (Azhar 13)
A bowling change, with Chris Woakes replacing Willey. After a couple of dots, Azhar attacks … and sends the ball straight to a fielder. Next ball, though, is worked off the pads, wide of mid on for four, Azhar’s 30th delivery being the first that brings more than one run. He still sneaks in a single this over, but that leaves Iftikhar with a single ball to face, which is one too many.
Willey’s no longer bowling, but he’s still taking wickets – Iftikhar tries to clear mid-on but gets nowhere near enough on it, and Willey runs to his right to take a nice low catch.
10th over: Pakistan 19-2 (Azhar 8, Iftikhar 5)
Oooh! A run-out chance here, as Iftikhar hits to cover, tries to get off strike, gets told not to be so silly, turns around, and would have been well short of his ground if the fielder had hit the stumps. In the end it’s a maiden, and Pakistan end their 10th over with a remarkably paltry 19 runs on the board – England were 51 without loss at this point.
9th over: Pakistan 19-2 (Azhar 8, Iftikhar 5)
Willey’s first five overs have brought two wickets and just seven runs, which is, well, good. Azhar banks his single here second ball. If you’re wondering which over he didn’t score a single in, it’s No2.
8th over: Pakistan 17-2 (Azhar 7, Iftikhar 4)
Another over, another Azhar single, after which some excellent fielding on the off side stops Iftikhar getting off the mark until the final delivery – Taylor does particularly well at cover, diving to his left to stop the ball – but then he drives the last square, past point and away to the rope, Pakistan’s first boundary.
7th over: Pakistan 12-2 (Azhar 6, Iftikhar 0)
At the end of the seventh over Azhar Ali has a) scored 50% of his team’s run total, and b) scored only singles, and c) never more than one in any over. There’s another one here. “Further to Jonathan Wood’s sensible suggestion that someone other than Cook call heads or tails, rather than having Morgan go out to the square (which would be odd as he presumably wouldn’t be in the team, much less captain), couldn’t he just tell Alistair what to call?” suggests Alex Henderson. “He wouldn’t even have to be part of the squad, he could text in ‘heads’ or ‘tails’ from wherever he is the night before or morning of the match. Or do we think the bad luck is physically attached to Cook, so no matter what he says, even if it’s prompted by someone else, it’s destined to be wrong 75% of the time?” I think the call would have to be delivered by another human, but perhaps Cook could take a recording of Morgan’s voice onto the field with him? Or someone luckier even than Morgan? Who’s the world’s luckiest human?
6th over: Pakistan 11-2 (Azhar 5, Iftikhar 0)
Topley’s first ball flies well wide of Azhar Ali, but the umpire unaccountably fails to raise his arms, and in the end Azhar’s push to mid-off, where a diving Morgan can’t hold it, brings the only run.
5th over: Pakistan 10-2 (Azhar 4, Iftikhar 0)
This has started magnificently for the tourists. One run and one wicket from Willey’s over, with Hafeez misjudging one that doesn’t really move, and none of these first five overs has cost more than three.
Hafeez, whose unbeaten 102 decided the first game, goes without bothering the scorer this time, nibbling a little nick through to Buttler!
4th over: Pakistan 9-1 (Azhar 3, Hafeez 0)
Movement for Topley, too, though it’s not as controlled, and there’s a wide when a ball sails down the leg side. Meanwhile, there’s no sign whatsoever of an early-innings assault from the batsmen.
3rd over: Pakistan 7-1 (Azhar 2, Hafeez 0)
Inswing here from Willey, first doing for Azam and then letting Hafeez get off strike with a leg bye. Just two runs off the over. Babar Azam’s departure means that I can finally stop mentally trilling the intro to this song:
A second consecutive Willey delivery leads to a loud lbw shout, and the first ball of over two, unlike the last of over one, gets the umpire’s finger twitching!
2nd over: Pakistan 5-0 (Azhar 1, Babar Azam 4)
Reece Topley’s first ball flies off Babar Azam’s bat, bisecting cover and point for a couple. “Given Cook’s and Morgan’s relative prowesses on calling correctly in the UAE, could Morgan be England’s captain for the purposes of the coin toss only in the South African Test series. A Designated Tosser, if you will,” wonders Jonathan Wood. “Unless that title is already taken.” There seems no reason to me why the active, on-field captain couldn’t let someone take the official duties – coin tosses (fun) and being the subject of fines for slow over rates and the like (less attractive) – if they consider themselves chronically unfortunate.
1st over: Pakistan 2-0 (Azhar 1, Babar Azam 1)
Two singles and a loud, last-ball lbw appeal from the over. England discuss a review but decide against it, Azhar being way down the wicket when the ball hit him, leaving too much uncertainty floating around.
The players are back out. David Willey holding the ball, Azhar Ali facing.
So England were 51-0 after 10 overs, and managed 56-3 off the final 10 – the bowling at the end of the innings there was pretty magnificent. Still, England’s score, while not overwhelmingly daunting, still seems pretty serviceable. “Whats the average 2nd innings score at this ground?” wonders Matthew Tottle. Well, I can tell you that in 29 previous matches only three teams (Pakistan on each occasion) have scored more than 280 runs in the second innings, twice in a winning cause.
Hello world!
Simon here, taking over from Rob for Pakistan’s reply. Feel free to send me emails and tweets. While we wait for more action, a musical interlude: given the quality of Irfan’s bowling he probably deserves a little lovin’, courtesy of the only vaguely similarly-named musical-type I can think of.
Pakistan need 284 to win
50th over: England 283-5 (Taylor 9, Moeen 2) England’s bowlers will have noticed the effectiveness of the slower ball in this innings. Taylor is beaten by yet another, bowled by Anwar Ali, and then a slower bouncer hits him on the arm. Lasith Malinga would have been very happy with those slower balls.
Taylor manages to whap the last ball of the innings for four to take England to 283, so Pakistan need 284 to win. England are probably slight favourites, despite that poor finish, though they need the spinners to bowl well. Simon Burnton will talk you through Pakistan’s run-chase. Thanks for your emails, bye!
49th over: England 275-5 (Taylor 3, Moeen 0) Irfan ends with figures of 10-0-46-1. Replays confirm that was another slower ball from Irfan to dismiss Morgan. England have suffered death by slow bowling in an ODI yet again – but this time it’s against two left-arm quicks.
Now Morgan has gone, lifting Irfan high in the air and straight to the man at deep midwicket. This doesn’t look good – England were 240/2 after 42 overs – but it is more the consequence of some marvellous bowling than of poor batting. Probably.
48th over: England 270-4 (Morgan 27, Taylor 0) Wahab beats Taylor to end an exhilarating spell of 3-0-9-2, and ends with figures of 10-0-43-3. This Pakistan team are relatively atypical and methodical, but Wahab would have fit perfectly in any of the great sides of the past. He’s an authentic cornered tiger.
Only Pakistan could produce a bowler like Wahab Riaz; he is one of the joys of sport right now, never mind cricket. This will be his last over of the innings – and he bowls Buttler with the penultimate delivery! It was the slower ball again; Buttler was too early on the shot and the ball deflected off his pads onto the stumps. This is a wonderful spell of death bowling from Wahab, full of charisma, skill and fire.
47th over: England 266-3 (Morgan 25, Buttler 9) Buttler should enjoy not having to think too much about his innings, or needing to play himself in. He can just see the ball and hit the ball, as he does when he drives his third delivery, from Irfan, over extra cover for four. Irfan and Wahab have done superbly nonetheless: since they came back England have scored just 26 from five overs.
“What absolute rubbish from England,” says Steve Ditchburn. “How to ruin a good start - at one point they should have been aiming for around 330, now they won’t even reach 300 - awful batting and no ambition.” I’d argue – though not with my fists – that it’s been more a case of good bowling than bad batting.
46th over: England 257-3 (Morgan 24, Buttler 1) Jos Buttler has been promoted above James Taylor, a good decision in the circumstances. But Wahab is bowling wonderfully in this spell; that over cost just one run and brought the wicket of Root.
Wahab puts Root out of his misery. Root had started to lose his way in the last few overs, and now he has been bowled by a superb slower ball. He made a good 63 from 77 balls, though he will be annoyed that he couldn’t accelerate after reaching fifty. He’s annoyed at getting out too, swishing his bat and shouting in frustration.
45th over: England 256-2 (Root 63, Morgan 24) A fine over from Irfan is tarnished by a low full toss off the last delivery, which Morgan swipes to deep midwicket for a one-bounce four.
44th over: England 248-2 (Root 62, Morgan 19) Yasir is replaced by Wahab, who unwittingly breaks Morgan’s bat with a low full toss. Morgan then survives run-out chances off consecutive deliveries; twice he turned back and was nowhere near his crease, and twice the throw whistled past the stumps. Pakistan’s left-arm quicks have slowed things down impressively, with only four runs from wach of the last two overs.
“Re. the Root/Warner debate,” says Robert Wilson. “I think that Warner is all about defiance, even when there’s nothing to defy or little to gain. When he got out cheaply and badly in the 4th Ashes Test, he was immediately out on the balcony, staring down the cameras. Next day, he was bowling half-pace bouncers and shoulder-bumping opposition twice his size. I don’t think Root feels that anyone is against him. And he’s a fan of the funny. They’re an interesting contrast - what the different attitudes add to or subtract from their game. Kane Williamson, on the other hand, is just really, really good at cricket.”
43rd over: England 244-2 (Root 60, Morgan 17) A fine over from the returning Mohammad Irfan, including a couple of perfect yorkers delivered from the heavens, costs only four.
42nd over: England 240-2 (Root 58, Morgan 15) Yasir Shah, nursing figures of 8-0-60-0, returns to the attack. Morgan swings him miles in the air and over midwicket for six. Four singles make it a really good over for England, and Yasir is now nursing figures of 9-0-70-0.
41st over: England 230-2 (Root 56, Morgan 7) England will still be looking for 300 at this stage. Iftikhar, whose relative economy has been a bonus for Pakistan, continues. It’s another effective over, with just three from it. Iftikhar’s figures are excellent in the context of the innings: 6-0-31-1.
40th over: England 227-2 (Root 54, Morgan 6) Root reaches the usual half-century by lapping the new bowler Anwar Ali over short fine leg for four. Morgan gets going with three twos to make it 11 from the over.
“I wonder if Root is driven currently by Warner’s success and whether they can drive each other on to new heights powered by mutual loathing,” says Ian Copestake. “If Warner saw something in Root he felt he could not aspire to due to his own self-destructive tendencies and thus tried to pummel him out of existence, then his recovery from that is very impressive.” I thought they were BFFs now?The selfie never lies. Hang on, that’s not a selfie is it? Oh whatever.
39th over: England 216-2 (Root 49, Morgan 0) Eoin Morgan is the new batsman.
Alex Hales walks on a stumping. He monstered Iftikhar over long-on for six the previous ball, and was trying to clear the boundary again when missed a violent slog-sweep. He dragged his back foot too far, and Sarfraz smoothly took the bails off. Hales waited near the boundary for the third umpire but he knew he was out. It’s the end of an impressive and timely career-best innings: 109 from 117 balls with seven fours and three sixes.
38th over: England 204-1 (Hales 102, Root 44) Wahab continues, and Hales pushes a single to bring up the second century partnership of the innings. No sign of the long handle being unsheathed just yet, by Hales or Root.
37th over: England 200-1 (Hales 100, Root 41) That’s it! Hales reaches his maiden ODI hundred by lapping Iftikhar for a couple. Terrific stuff. He’s faced 111 balls, with seven fours and two sixes in one over from Yasir Shah. And now you would expect him to go into T20 mode.
36th over: England 197-1 (Hales 98, Root 41) The new bowler Wahab keeps Hales stuck in the nineties with a good over that costs just three.
35th over: England 194-1 (Hales 97, Root 38) Hales, on 95, flicks Iftikhar in the air and just wide of the diving Rizwan at short midwicket. Iftikhar has been an unlikely wicket-taking threat in his three overs, with a review, a dropped catch and that near miss.
34th over: England 190-1 (Hales 95, Root 37) We know that Hales is a world-class T20 player, but in 10 years’ time we might look back on today as a breakthrough in his ODI and even Test careers. Or we might not. There’s your insight! He moves to 94 with a flicked single off Yasir. One hit. He just needs one more hit.
Root still hasn’t hit a four, never mind a six, but he is going well on 33 from 45 balls. Hales flicks another single to move to 95, and then Root does find the boundary by hoicking Yasir over mid-on. England have punished Yasir today: 8-0-60-0. If he has figures like that, imagine what Rashid and Moeen might do on this pitch!
33rd over: England 181-1 (Hales 92, Root 31) Oh, Pakistan. Root is dropped by Wahab at point, a fairly straightforward diving chance from a mishit reverse sweep off the bowling of Iftikhar.
32nd over: England 176-1 (Hales 89, Root 29) When England won the ODI series 4-0 against Pakistan in 2011-12, an opener scored a century in each match: two from Alastair Cook and two from Kevin Pietersen. It’s a decent template for victory, and they will hope Hales can follow it. He whips Yasir for two, and Wahab Riaz hurts his ankle in the act of fielding. He’s limping, though he hasn’t left the field.
31st over: England 170-1 (Hales 86, Root 26) Five from Iftikhar’s over. “Surely Jonny ‘Jonny’ Bairstow is the palest,” says Gareth Fitzgerald. “He catches even less sun than he does cricket balls while wearing gloves.”
REVIEW: England 166-1 (Root not out 24) It’s time for a bit of part-time offspin from the debutant Iftikhar Ahmed. Root survives a big shout for LBW off the second ball, and Azhar is going to review the decision. It was very full, but I suspect it pitched just outside leg stump with Iftikhar bowling from around the wicket. Root had a similar shout turned down off his own bowling the other day. Replays show that this pitched comfortably outside leg, so Root survives.
30th over: England 165-1 (Hales 84, Root 23) Yasir Shah is back. Hales launches his first delivery emphatically over midwicket for six to bring up the fifty partnership. He is dropped later in the over when he under-edges Yasir onto the shinpad of the keeper Sarfraz. It would have been a half-chance for Alan Knott; for anyone else it was about a tenth-chance.
Hales has clearly decided to go big: he charges the penultimate ball and chips it down the ground for another six. Terrific stuff. Even though one-day cricket in Abu Dhabi bears precisely no resemblance to Test cricket in South Africa, I would imagine this innings has sealed Hales’s place for the first Test on Boxing Day.
29th over: England 151-1 (Hales 71, Root 23) This has been a superbly constructed innings by England, though that’s conditional on them not collapsing in the comedy style later in the innings. But really, you couldn’t ask for much more at this stage: they have been controlled, sensible and busy – and the milking of the spinners (11-0-73-0 between them) has been rewardingly unEnglish.
“I remember Derek being on one of those live Saturday morning quiz shows, Multi Coloured Swap Shop or Tiswas or something,” says Andy Brittain. “At the end the presenter was holding up an England cricket tea towel and banging on about how you could win it. Derek, who was also in the shot, took the opportunity to blow his nose on it for a laugh. Good times.” Yeah but these days he could have put it on eBay and sold it for charity. Progress.
28th over: England 146-1 (Hales 68, Root 21) Hales cuts Anwar Ali for a couple to move out of the nervous 64s, and a single down the ground takes him past his previous best ODI score. Root, meanwhile, has moved skilfully to 21 from 30 balls despite not hitting a boundary.
@100ashesquotes I always liked Younis Khan for being a smiler. I'll miss him just for that. And Darren Sammy - Chris Man (Gayle), less so.
27th over: England 140-1 (Hales 64, Root 19) With Pakistan needing a wicket, Mohammad Irfan replaces Shoaib Malik. He beats Hales with
two three four consecutive deliveries outside off stump; Hales’s face is a picture of self-disgust. A fine over.
“Is Eoin Morgan now the world’s palest cricketer?” asks Robert Wilson. “Ben Stokes has been dominating the melanin-deficiency tables for eighteen months or more, but now Morgan seems to have sneaked up on the inside. This can’t be helping in the world’s hotter places (I worried that Stokes would actually ignite when he was in Australia). What about acclimatising a little? All they’d have to do is to contact some early 90s English footballers to learn a little lobsterising-by-the-pool techniques. Couldn’t hurt.”
26th over: England 139-1 (Hales 64, Root 18) Hales is inching towards his highest ODI score of 67. I wouldn’t expect him to go back for another 10 overs or so, and nor should he because he is scoring at almost a run a ball with minimal risk. If he is still there in the last 10 overs, we will be in for a bit of the old ultraviolence.
“Surely the endearingly jovial Mark Wood is the bowling foil to Root’s grinning batsman?” says Guy Hornsby. “He’s genuinely pretty batty, but seems to play cricket as if it’s been given to him for Christmas. Reassuringly lovely, and a throwback to the days where you did it for the love, rather than a central contract and a [KP] promoted tweet [/KP].”
25th over: England 135-1 (Hales 62, Root 16) England are gettin’ ‘em in singles at the moment. It doesn’t scream BRAND OF CRICKET but it’s a sensible approach in the circumstances, and pretty effective too. This is a superb platform for the second half of the innings. Actually, the moment I type that, Hales whips Shoaib Malik over midwicket for the first boundary in eight overs. That was a wonderful shot.
“Re Joe Root and “He reminds us what the word ‘sport’ used to mean...”,” begins Gary Naylor, “one early use of the word sport was a synonym for hunting - hence sporting dogs for example. So if we take that meaning and sport is about slaughtering weak, defenceless prey, it’s David Warner who doing the reminding right now. PS Trent Boult should wear a green and gold wig to bowl the first over tomorrow.”
24th over: England 126-1 (Hales 54, Root 14) Anwar Ali is more English than Pakistani in style, with his medium-paced accuracy. Four from the over.
“While I agree with most of your happy sportsmen list, I harbour an irrational yet virulent grudge against Dwight Yorke from a Derby v Villa match a good 15-20 years ago,” says David Hopkins, “so might I request that his name is expunged and replaced with Usain Bolt?” I just can’t say no to you David: you know that, and you take advantage of it to make me do things I wouldn’t do for anyone else.
23rd over: England 122-1 (Hales 53, Root 12) Five singles from Shoaib Malik’s boring middle over. England are not pushing too hard because they know that, in these conditions, 300 is the new 400.
“I always found Bayern München’s own Peruvian smilemeister, Claudio Pizarro, to be constructed entirely out of happiness,” says Ian Copestake. “Like a generic OBO contributor.”
22nd over: England 117-1 (Hales 51, Root 9) Anwar Ali returns to the attack and gives another demonstration of his wicket-to-wicket stylings. A lot goes on but nothing happens: three singles from the over.
“Joe Root’s up there,” says Mark Robinson. “But I would plump for Derek Randall - who was a bit like Norman Wisdom’s Mr Grimsdale when facing Lillee & Co.”
21st over: England 114-1 (Hales 50, Root 7) Hales reaches his third ODI fifty in his 21st innings, a controlled innings that includes six fours from 57 balls. In the context of his ODI career and even his Test career, this would be a very good time to explode and make his first century.
20th over: England 112-1 (Hales 49, Root 6)“Joe Root comes in, smiles a lot, makes runs,” says Adam Hirst. “Have England ever had a cricketer that looks like he’s enjoying it all more than Little Joe? Our cricketers have been a fairly dour bunch down the years. Maybe only Gower treated it all like a lark.”
Yes, that’s one of his greatest qualities. He reminds us what the word ‘sport’ used to mean, yet he also manages to be extremely hard-nosed. It’s a helluva trick. Actually, that would be a good Joy of Six: shiny happy sportsmen. Joe Root, Martin Adams, Dwight Yorke, Bob Willis.
The slowest caught-behind decision in the history of all cricket is given against Alex Hales. He reviews it straight away, however, and replays show why: it missed the bottom edge and hit his back leg. Not out.
19th over: England 111-1 (Hales 47, Root 6) Hales and Root carefully milk the dangerous Yasir for four singles, and then Root muscles a full ball wide of mid-on for three. He is admirably busy from ball one, in all forms of the game.
“As good as the offer looks for Benaud in Wisden, are you aware of any offers for it which are more in the £5.88 to £5.96 bracket?” Come on, it’s only been available for a week; you’ll have to wait at least another few days before it’s remaindered.
18th over: England 103-1 (Hales 45, Root 1) The new batsman is Joe Root, who played brilliantly in his new role at No3 against New Zealand last summer.
Meanwhile, this email arrived precisely 0.0000001 seconds before Roy decided to drive Wahab over mid-on. “Roy’s biggest problem in his ODI career to date has been not making the most of his good starts,” wrote Dominic Gillan. “Come on JJ, do us proud!”
A tame end to an excellent innings, with Roy driving a slower ball from Wahab Riaz straight to mid-on. Wahab angrily punches the air in celebration. Roy made 54 from 57 balls and played with class and confidence.
17th over: England 100-0 (Roy 53, Hales 44) Shoaib Malik continues to bowl his offspin from around the wicket, and Hales dumps a sweep high over square leg for a two-bounce four, and slams another boundary through the covers off the back foot. A single from Roy brings up a splendid hundred partnership, 60 of which have come from the last eight overs.
16th over: England 90-0 (Roy 52, Hales 35) Roy is beaten, heaving at the new bowler Wahab. I was going to say “give him the clap, Wahab,” before realising what else that could mean. Wahab smiles anyway. A high-class back-foot drive through mid-off brings Roy a boundary off the next ball, and later in the over he pulls four more to bring up an extremely accomplished fifty from 53 balls. He ends the over with another wild heave at fresh air.
You can buy Benaud in Wisden for £6.04. No idea why that particular sum was chosen, but anyway, look! https://t.co/CE5b6olwzy
15th over: England 81-0 (Roy 43, Hales 35) That’s a fine shot from Roy, who dances down the trick and chips Shoaib Malik over mid-off for four. He has been very impressive so far, really certain in his strokeplay. Eight from the over.
“Following you from the office in Madrid,” says a nameless person in Madrid. “Perfect cricket weather here - in fact it has been so good that an arbitrary speed limit has been introduced on the orbital motorway and parking on the streets in the city has been reduced to residents only, in a desperate attempt to reduce the high amount of pollution. Given that these temperatures are forecast to continue for at least another week, additional measures look to be looming - i.e. alternate driving days depending on your number plate, to eventually a total ban. Mind you coming into work this morning the usual traffic flow i.e. stopped, didn’t look any different to a normal day!!” How does that work? I’m even more confused than I was when I read Khawaja’s tweet.
14th over: England 73-0 (Roy 36, Hales 34) You’d think England would want at least 280, maybe 300, ideally 500. It shouldn’t be easy to chase on a dying wicket against the spinners, though England’s bowlers aren’t exactly walking on sunshine at the moment. Yasir is bowling nicely now after a loose second over, and England settle for two singles from the over. There was a suggestion that Sarfraz might have dropped Hales, though replays were inconclusive as to whether it took the outside edge.
13th over: England 71-0 (Roy 35, Hales 33) Shoaib Malik replaces Wahab Riaz, and has Roy dropped off his third ball. It was a really sharp chance to the keeper Sarfraz Ahmed off a thickish inside edge after the ball straightened from around the wicket. Roy bleaches the wound by creaming a sweep for four next ball.
“Commentators wondering about the fifth bowler and seem to be forgetting Azhar Ali,” says Krishnan Patel. “His brief spell in the Sharjah Test was good. Or is it one of those things when a player becomes captain, he stops bowling for some reason (see Steve Smith, Michael Clarke).” Michael Vaughan and Graham Gooch were like that too. In the parlance of our time, it’s definitely a thing.
12th over: England 64-0 (Roy 30, Hales 31) Just four from Yasir’s third over. England have some serious batting to come: Root, Morgan, Taylor, Buttler and Moeen, not to mention one of the shorter tails in their ODI history.
“Your fifth over description reminded me that I once ‘pulled witheringly’,” says Ian Copestake. “All I have left is the memory of the look of disdain on her coupon as I made my approach.” Normally with emails from the OBO regulars, you can recognise the writer without seeing a name. But that email could have come from Copestake, Mac Millings, Guy Hornsby...
11th over: England 60-0 (Roy 29, Hales 29) Pakistan need Wahab to get
nasty feisty and take a couple of wickets. Roy cuts him wristily behind square for a couple, prompting a post-watershed exclamation from Wahab. He’s not exactly the poster boy for happiness when, later in the over, he appeals for a catch down the leg side, only for the umpire to call wide. There was a noise, but it came off Hales’ trousers. Nine from the over.
10th over: England 51-0 (Roy 22, Hales 28) Hales sweeps Yasir round the corner for four, with Irfan at short fine leg going down with all the grace you’d expect of a 7ft man. Hales gets another boundary off the last delivery, this time with a pretty lovely push through the covers. He has 28 from 30 balls, Roy has 22 from 30.
9th over: England 40-0 (Roy 21, Hales 18) A double bowling change, with Wahab Riaz coming on for Mohammad Irfan. Hales snicks wide of slip for four, one of Nasser’s genuine edges. This is decent progress in view of the conditions, though it does feel a bit like a preamble to a batting collapse.
“Does Nick Compton go to South Africa every winter to work on his batting?” says Richard Simpson. “He is there soon - is this an ECB back up plan? Surely he needs to relax and instead go to Alton Towers/Legoland/Flamingo land, as wasn’t he dropped for being too intense? Although I do like the image of a frighteningly intense man festering in county cricket, playing out a game to 18 spectators in Somerset.” And being told to chill out by Roy Keane, who makes a surprise move into the Sky cricket commentary box.
8th over: England 34-0 (Roy 20, Hales 13) Yasir Shah replaces Anwar Ali (3-0-12-0). He is likely to be a big threat on this used pitch. Crikey, what a shot that is! Roy gets into position for the switch hit and pings it sweetly over point for a one-bounce four.
7th over: England 28-0 (Roy 16, Hales 12) It’s been a pretty good start from England. Roy in particular is starting to play with a bit of a swagger, although he is beaten by a ball from Irfan that keeps low. Those are good signs for England, as the bounce should get more uneven as the match progresses.
@100ashesquotes I'm slightly confused by the subtle nuances of this tweet. Which old times does a 28 year old mean https://t.co/EhOTPunHhP
6th over: England 23-0 (Roy 13, Hales 10) Hales, on the charge, heaves Anwar not far short of the man at deep midwicket. Then Roy picks the slower ball and drives it sweetly over mid-on for four.
5th over: England 18-0 (Roy 9, Hales 9) That’s more like the Hales we want to see: when Irfan drops a fraction short, he pulls witheringly through midwicket for four. Just a single from the five balls after that. We do need to be patient with Hales as an ODI batsman; his potential is stratospheric, and as such he probably deserves a bit more slack.
4th over: England 13-0 (Roy 9, Hales 4) The pitch should get slower and lower, through the innings and through the day, so England will want to get off to a flyer. Not a full Summer 2015 Brand of Cricket flyer, but a relatively fast start. At the moment Hales in particular is struggling to time it, and manages just a two and a single from an accurate Anwar Ali over.
“I’m disappointed by BA’s grovelling, first name twitter response to the baggage travails of a cricketing God,” says Ian Copestake. “A simple LOL would have sufficed.” That would have bantered him right off.
3rd over: England 10-0 (Roy 9, Hales 1) Hales eventually faces his first delivery of the match, and then edges his second wide of the slips for a single. Roy is then beaten, pushing at one angled across him by Irfan. One from the over.
“If Warner makes 400 I will cry,” says John Bowker. “It will be a sad day for cricket. He’s going to do it isn’t he.” I’m not sure he’s greedy enough to do it. One thing in his favour is his speed of scoring; if he gets to 400 it will probably be sometime in the afternoon, so fatigue will be less of an issue.
2nd over: England 9-0 (Roy 9, Hales 0) Roy gets his second boundary with a lovely, wristy flick through midwicket off Anwar Ali. Roy’s ODI record so far are modest – average 27, two fifties in 11 innings – but he has looked a bit better than that. England may be short of openers in Test cricket but they have plenty of options in ODIs, as Moeen Ali is also a very good pinch-stroker at the top of the order.
1st over: England 5-0 (Roy 5, Hales 0) The 7ft left-arm seamer Mohammad Irfan opens the bowling to Jason Roy, who slams his fifth ball square on the off side for four to get off the mark. In other news, and talking of the darts, this picture essay is very nice.
“So who would you have opening against South Africa?” says Jonathan Wood. “ We seem to have a long list of “not quites”, don’t we? Compton, Ali, Hales, Robson, Carbery, Lyth…God help us if Cook injures his back picking up a pig before the South African trip.” I’d have Compton, without question. You need to blunt the new ball against that attack, and even 70-ball 25s would be very handy. I’d fear for Hales. Compton is 32, not 37. He’s four years younger than Adam Voges, for example.
In other news Anyone watch the darts last night? Those four matches had pretty much everything.
“Glorious day for it...” says Sarah Bacon. “Today was the first in the ‘winter season’ where it was colder outside than in; it’s 28C here, so England shouldn’t face the weather challenges they experienced earlier in the series. Hopefully, they will also be more circumspect about their reviews than New Zealand were this morning.
“PS. Did you know Trott is a studio pundit for TEN Cricket in the region? He’s astute, clinical, knowledgeable … just what you want topping and tailing the action.”
First email of the day
“I’ve had a cold all week and I’m at my desk with a pile of snotty tissues and a watch that’s way too far away from 5pm,” says Guy Hornsby, mistaking this for a Soulmates profile. “As for the cricket, isn’t Alex Hales supposed to be the new Warner? I like him but I suggest not getting out recklessly would be a good start. Woakes currently 0-292 off 49 overs in ODIs. And picking the same team? What’s the definition of insanity again? The gloom’s here already, so I’m getting my reverse-jinx in early.”
England are unchanged. Pakistan bring in Mohammad Rizwan – the DRS troll– and Iftikhar Ahmed for Bilal Asif and Younis Khan.
Pakistan Azhar Ali (c), Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Anwar Ali, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Irfan.
Toss department
England have won it and will – yep – bat first. That’s a good toss to win. This is the same pitch that was used for the first match, so you would expect it to turn.
Brand of cricket department
David Warner? Bloody hell.
@sachin_rt We're sorry to hear this Sachin, could you please DM us your baggage ref, full name and address so we can look into this for you?
Hello. Cricket is developing quite the travel problem. Despite the benefits of globalisation, teams are increasingly incapable of winning away from home. As always, English cricket was way ahead of the curve. The one-day side has had this issue for decades, and the early signs are that Andrew Strauss’s born-again ODI team could have a similar problem.
In one sense, it’s not so big a concern. The Champions Trophy in 2017 and the World Cup in 2019 will both be played in England, where the team look pretty strong. But 48 consecutive defeats overseas would not be great for morale, so England do need to learn how to win away from the green, green grass of home. Might as well start today, eh?