World Cup: No miracle at Eden as Pakistan’s sorry campaign ends with a 93-run loss to England

Follow all the action from the Cricket World Cup 2023 on our special World Cup section. You can also find the latest stats, like the top scorer and the highest wicket-taker of the current edition, upcoming World Cup fixtures and the points table on the site.

The 93-run defeat to a struggling England meant Pakistan’s campaign ended with a whimper. Their much-hyped pace attack barely troubled the English batsmen and the batsmen endured another collapse.

With Mohammad Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique’s centuries against Sri Lanka along with Fakhar Zaman’s 126 against the Kiwis being the only bright spots in an otherwise below par campaign, winds of change may already be blowing in Pakistani cricket.

Saturday turned out to be more of the same as Shafique was dismissed for a duck in the very first over, with Pakistan needing to chase down 337 in 6.4 overs if they wished to qualify for the semifinals. Zaman would be the next man to depart after he was caught by Stokes as Pakistan were reduced to 10/2 inside the first three overs.

Skipper Babar Azam and Rizwan then built a 50-run partnership before the Pakistan captain failed to convert a solid start yet again, falling for 38. The latter would follow him after a few overs when he went for a wild swing, completely missed the ball and saw his stumps shattered by Moeen Ali.

The remaining batters would offer little resistance, except Agha Salman, who scored 51, with England’s spin twins Ali and Adil Rashid accounting for four wickets between them.

Pacers flatter to deceive

Their woes went much beyond toothless batting displays. The Pakistan pace attack, which was compared to the legendary unit led by Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, flattered to deceive and the match against England epitomised all that has gone wrong for them.

Though pacers Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Wasim took seven wickets among them at Eden Gardens, they conceded a bucketload of runs with Rauf going for 64, Afridi 72 and Wasim 74.

In the last match against New Zealand, they had conceded 85, 90 and 60 respectively which paints a worrying picture. Granted, Pakistan had lost Naseem Shah before the tournament but they did a very poor job in identifying and executing a proper backup plan with replacement Hasan Ali unable to plug the gaping hole in the pace battery.

Even their spinners have let them down with Shadab Khan’s form a major concern going forward.

Improbable equation

Coming into the match, the equation for Pakistan was simple: Bat first and win by 287 runs or field first and chase down England’s target with 284 balls to spare. The first situation was still plausible if they rained fire on the England bowlers. But the second? Not so much.

As it transpired, not much as a collective groan reverberated around the crowd as soon as the Men in Green were sent out to field.

Pakistan gave it a shot with the express pace of Afridi and Rauf initially troubling the England openers Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow, yielding just eight runs from the first three overs.

But there was a moment in the very first Rauf over that appeared to show what lay ahead for the players in green. Steaming in, the Pakistan pace bowler let loose a wayward delivery that ended up fetching England 5 wide runs and in retrospect, set the tone of the match.

The England batters would then soon find their feet on a historically batting-friendly surface, slowly and steadily taking the match away from Pakistan.

Bairstow, who had a tournament to forget, suddenly became the embodiment of confidence, something that was put on show when he nonchalantly played an uppercut shot for a six over third man off Afridi in the seventh over. He would twist the knife further into Pakistan’s collective hearts with a half-century off 52 deliveries before ultimately going down to Haris Rauf for 59.

On the other end, Malan, who recently said that this match might be his last in an England jersey, gave a glimpse of what he’s capable of as he pulled and stroked the Pakistan bowlers all around the ground, putting up an 82-run first wicket stand with Bairstow before departing for 31.

Stokes and Joe Root would then anchor the Three Lions’ innings, carefully picking and choosing their spots and shots as their opponents’ shoulders dropped further. The stalwarts would bring up a solid 132-run partnership with Stokes scoring 84 with Root holding up his end with a gritty 60. To put into context Root’s innings, here’s a little stat: When Stokes reached his half century, he was on 35 and by the time he departed for 84, Root was on 51.

By the time the two were dismissed, the semifinal hopes were well and truly beyond Pakistan with England posting an insurmountable target.