LONDON: England thrashed Pakistan by 52 runs in the second one-day international at Lord’s on Saturday to secure a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Pakistan, set 248 to win in the match reduced by rain to 47 overs per side, were dismissed for 195 with six overs left after Saud Shakeel had made 56, his maiden ODI fifty.
Lewis Gregory took 3-44 after the Somerset all-rounder made a valuable 40 in England´s 247.
Phil Salt top-scored for the home side with 60 — his maiden ODI fifty and James Vince made 56, with Hasan Ali taking 5-51 in what was the first ODI at Lord´s since England´s dramatic 2019 World Cup final win over New Zealand.
The series will conclude with a day/nighter at Edgbaston on Tuesday.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam said, “We used the first 10 overs well, but we didn’t bowl well for the next 10, but credit to Hasan Ali for bringing us back with five wickets. We didn’t start well with the bat, lost back to back wickets, and couldn’t put up partnerships. We hope we can fix this in the next match. Hasan bowled outstandingly, and Saud Shakeel showed his performance, we see the next match as a good opportunity, and points are still at stake.”
England captain Ben Stokes said, “The way we came out and showed intent with the bat early on really set us up. Tricky period in the middle, but the pleasing thing was the inexperienced players coming in and showing the mindset to keep attacking. We were still above the run rate that we should have been at that stage. And with the ball, we were just clinical. Lewis and Brad are very capable batsmen, and their partnership gave us a good total, with the wicket offering a bit of seam. We’ve won the series already, but there’s nothing better than continuing the winning streak. We’ll take the same mindset into the next game, and if anything we’ll come harder.”
Squads:
England: Phil Salt, Dawid Malan, Zak Crawley, James Vince, Ben Stokes (captain), John Simpson, Lewis Gregory, Craig Overton, Brydon Carse, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson.
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Sohaib Maqsood, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf.
Babar is Joffrey Baratheon of cricket.