Pakistan easily chased down 212 with almost 13 overs to spare after a fantastic performance by the bowlers to limit England to a below-par total.

By Abdullah Ansari (14th June, 2017)

Pakistan won the toss for the CT semi and opted to field first as an injured Amir was replaced by debutant Rumman while Shadab came in for Faheem. England replaced the misfiring Roy with Bairstow. England got off to a decent enough start with Hales and Bairstow getting away a few boundaries though there was an early unsuccessful review from Pakistan. Hales was the first to fall in the sixth over, driving Rumman to cover for his maiden ODI wicket. Bairstow continued on while Root got runs at a good clip regardless of the lack of boundaries as the two put on a decent partnership. However, Hasan came into the attack and struck with his third ball as a top edge from Bairstow was caught in the deep, out for 43. Another decent partnership developed between Root and Morgan but the run rate remained low and it was Shadab who broke the stand as Root tried to cut one and was caught behind. The situation went from bad to worse for England as Morgan swiped at a good delivery by Hasan and was caught while Junaid got one to nip away from Buttler and had him caught behind. Moeen held out for a bit before he holed out to a Junaid short ball, with Fakhar taking a superb catch while Rashid was run out a few overs later courtesy a Shehzad direct hit. Hasan returned to bring Stokes' fighting 34 to an end with a good slower delivery as he was caught while Rumman got Plunkett. Wood was the last one out, run out by Sarfraz as England were bowled out for an underwhelming 211 with a ball to spare.

Pakistan's chase began brightly with a top edged six by Fakhar in the very first over followed by Ball gifting five wides which was to set the tone for the rest of the innings. Once again, it was Fakhar who was the aggressor as he looked to punish even the slightest mistake while Azhar looked to anchor the innings. For a chase of 212, this seemed like an ideal approach and that certainly seemed to be the case as the two were able to deflect everything that the English threw at them. England's short ball strategy didn't bare fruit as Fakhar swayed out of line, but when it wasn't head high, he pulled the ball away to the boundary. Azhar also looked to be in some semblance of form as he played some superb drives as the two put on a hundred partnership. Fakhar got to his fifty off 49 balls while Azhar got there at the 68 ball mark. Fakhar's strike-rate ensured Pakistan were well ahead of where they needed to be though he eventually fell to Rashid as he went for a big shot, missed and was stumped for 57. Azhar carried on while Babar looked at ease from the moment he arrived at the crease, hitting Rashid for a maximum early in his innings. The runs continued to come at a good clip for Pakistan as the English bowlers wilted. A shorter ball saw England dismiss Azhar as he dragged it on to his stumps but he had done his job with a good knock of 76. Hafeez looked to be in the mood to finish off the game soon and that he did, as he smacked Rashid for a six and then took Stokes for a maximum and a four as well. Two boundaries off Moeen and another off Stokes and Pakistan had raced to the target with 12.5 overs and eight wickets remaining, a massive win for the men in green.

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