England stunned by Pakistan as Eoin Morgan’s side crash out of ICC Champions Trophy with a whimper in semi-final
Hosts failed with the bat allowing rivals to comfortably knock off their total in Cardiff and record an eight-wicket win
WHAT the heck happened there? England departed the Champions Trophy in a wave of misery, humiliation and unanswered questions.
They didn’t just lost to Pakistan in Cardiff, they produced a performance of quite shocking ineptitude and feebleness.
Pakistan’s victory margin was a monumental eight wickets with 12.5 overs to spare and they will face either India or Bangladesh in an all-Asian final on Sunday.
Eoin Morgan’s team managed just 211 all out and Pakistan swept to their target with a confident flourish and not a tremor of doubt.
After two years of playing aggressive, fearless one-day cricket and entering the semi-finals as the only team with a 100 per cent record, England’s meek and mild performance was almost inexplicable.
Make no mistake, this is a huge setback to England, head coach Trevor Bayliss and team supremo Andrew Strauss, who have played such an emphasis on one-day cricket.
The pressure on them to win the home World Cup in 2019 has been cranked up by several notches.
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England batting was suffocated by Pakistan’s skilful bowlers and then England’s attack served up what can only be described as a pile of dross.
It is difficult to think they froze in a global tournament semi-final. Perhaps they were just confused as to what was a par score when batting first on a tricky, used pitch.
After a decent start – England were 128-2 in the 28th over – their innings went nowhere. Ben Stokes batted for 64 balls without hitting a boundary - what a contrast to his rumbustious century against the Aussies last Saturday.
England didn’t manage to score more than six runs in any of the final 25 overs of their innings. They hit no sixes at all. It was cricket in slow motion.
Morgan and his men might say the pitch was more like Karachi than Cardiff and suited Pakistan but that is no excuse. The surface looked decent enough when England’s bowlers were being flogged.
For Pakistan, it was a huge triumph. Ranked eighth in the world in 50-over cricket, they were vilified after being destroyed by India in their opening match. They have since beaten South Africa, Sri Lanka and now England. What a turnaround.
Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed surprised many by choosing to bowl first but it ultimately proved an inspired decision.
England replaced the out-of-form Jason Roy with Jonny Bairstow and the flame-haired Yorkshireman was the subject of an lbw review second ball. He survived by the narrowest of margins.
Bairstow was also dropped twice before holing out to deep mid-wicket for 41. Alex Hales had already mis-cued a drive to cover for 13.
When Joe Root and Morgan took England to 128-2, a total in excess of 275 appeared likely. But Root was caught behind attempting to cut the spinner and the innings descended into terminal decline.
Morgan charged and was caught behind, Jos Buttler nicked the first ball after drinks, Moeen Ali lofted to deep square leg and Stokes went nowhere. It was an empty shell of a batting display.
Morgan’s shot looked particularly poor but he has been advancing down the pitch all tournament – and nailing the shot for four.
Even without Mohammad Amir, their most feted bowler who wrenched his back during the warm-ups, Pakistan’s beguiling mixture of speed and spin was far too good for England.
They nailed their yorkers, gained reverse swing and teased with their twirly stuff.
Where did it all go wrong?
1. England were confused about the pitch. They didn’t know whether to play their usual aggressive game or try steadily to build a defendable total.
The result was a half-baked batting display that didn’t include a single six or, for that matter, a three. They ended up in no-man’s land and a risible total of 211 all out.
2. The batsmen allowed Pakistan’s spinners to dictate. The likes of Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan could have tried to apply pressure back on the bowlers by hitting some boundaries.
By the time the quick bowlers returned, the pressure was already on England and they were able to gain reverse swing through the air.
3. Defending a modest 211 was always going to be tough, but England’s bowlers strived too hard for early wickets – meaning they bowled too short and too wide.
Patience was the preferred route, trying to induce twitchiness in Pakistan’s batting with control and a slow run-rate. But England did the opposite.
4. Eoin Morgan had a stinker of a match. His dismissal – advancing down the pitch and edging an extravagant drive – looked reckless just when England needed to build without losing any more wickets.
Then he waited too long to bring wrist-spinner Adil Rashid into the attack. Pakistan were 81-0 by the time Rashid was tossed the ball.
5. The groundsman did England no favours by rolling out a dry, scrubby pitch. It was the same surface on which Pakistan beat Sri Lanka 48 hours earlier.
As we saw last winter, England struggle on slow tracks which discourage their natural freedom and aggressive strokeplay. Pakistan’s spinners and reverse swingers loved it, of course.
Pakistan brought in a left-arm quickie called Rumman Raees for his international debut and he was superb. Another unheralded bowler, bustling paceman Hasan Ali, took 3-35 in ten overs.
While England’s batsmen were hesitant, Pakistan found an opener who tore into the opening bowlers.
Left-hander Fakhar Zaman, playing only his third match for his country, scorched to fifty at better than a run-a-ball with a mixture of unorthodoxy, power and daring. He has yet to fail in the tournament.
The reliable Azhar Ali made a half-century and Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez accelerated Pakistan to their target.
So England continue to be historically the worst one-day country in the world. Stretching back to 1975, they have competed in 19 global tournaments and won precisely zero.