World Cup 2019: Five close encounters of the tournament so far

#4 Pakistan vs England at Nottingham

Amir was in fine touch against England

Hosts England met Pakistan at Nottingham in the sixth match of the tournament. While England thrashed South Africa in the first match, Pakistan went down to West Indies in their first encounter.

England's captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and put Pakistan in to bat first. After the openers put on 82 runs, Babar Azam and the experienced Mohammad Hafeez took the England attack apart, smashing them for 88 runs from the last 12 overs.

Hafeez was the top scorer with a 62-ball 84 and with Pakistan putting up 348/8 from their allotted 50 overs, one expected an exciting run chase on the cards. However, the target was certainly a steep one, with Pakistan boasting of a solid bowling unit.

The Pakistan captain wisely started the innings with spinner Shahab Khan who accounted for the in-form Jason Roy. Soon England were reduced to 118 for 4 and with 231 runs needed in 29 overs, Pakistan were on top. However, they had Joe Root and Jos Buttler to deal with.

While Root was the steady accumulator, Buttler took on the Pakistan bowlers. The pair added 130 runs in 18 overs to bring the target below 100. Root was the first to reach his hundred in the 38th over. Yet, he was guilty of throwing his wicket away immediately after reaching the landmark.

With Root back in the hut, the onus was on Buttler to score the remaining 91 runs in the last 10 overs. However, after Root’s exit, Buttler lost his rhythm and his wicket immediately after reaching his hundred. Just as Buttler got out for a quick fire 103 off 76 balls, England needed 60 off 33 balls.

Unfortunately for England, Moeen Ali could not put the bat on the ball and Chris Woakes cameo didn’t last long. Wahab Riaz removed both Ali and Woakes off successive deliveries to put an end to England’s run chase. In the end, Pakistan managed to squeeze through by 14 runs to cause the second upset of the tournament.