Arafat Minhas delivered a commanding all-round performance to lead Pakistan to an 87-run victory against England in Tuesday’s ODI tri-series clash. The 21-year-old left-hander anchored the home side’s total of 302-9 with a fluent 59 off 58 balls after England captain Harry Brook elected to field at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Pakistan’s recovery was essential after the top-order faltered. Hasan Nawaz, playing his sixth ODI, hit a career-best 79, while Minhas posted his maiden ODI fifty. The duo constructed a crucial 78-run partnership for the sixth wicket to steady the innings after Pakistan had slipped to 133-5. Earlier, Joe Root took a sharp catch to dismiss Fakhar Zaman on the first ball off Gus Atkinson, and Saim Ayub fell for 8 to a short ball from Sonny Baker.
Babar Azam looked comfortable, scoring 34 with three boundaries against Baker, before being dismissed by Will Jacks. Who was expensive in his opening spell, before the former captain wasted another good start and was bowled by Will Jacks, babar Azam (34) started confidently with three boundaries against Baker.
Salman Ali Agha fell to Adil Rashid, and debutant Saad Baig showed promise with a 35-run knock before being dismissed by Atkinson.
Nawaz, who hit a first-ball six off Rashid, benefited from a dropped catch on 28 and reached his half-century in 46 balls before Jamie Overton bowled him with a yorker. Faheem Ashraf contributed a quick 39 off 26 balls, while Baker finished with a career-best 3-65.
England began their chase with aggressive intent, as Tom Banton (57) and Ben Duckett (45) put on 91 runs in 14.3 overs. The momentum shifted when Duckett miscued a pull shot off Haris Rauf to long leg. Pakistan skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi subsequently turned to his spin options to dismantle the lineup. Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi’s ploy to deploy spinners from both ends then worked well.
Minhas proved instrumental with his left-arm spin, claiming 6-40. He removed Banton at short mid-wicket and clean-bowled Harry Brook for 5. Joe Root chipped in with 33, and Sam Curran added 27, but the lower order struggled against the disciplined bowling attack. England lost their final five wickets for just 18 runs, collapsing to 215 all out with over 11 overs remaining. Including the prize wicket of Brook for 5, as the visitors were bowled out for 215 with more than 11 overs to spare in their opening game of the tournament, which also features Sri Lanka, minhas then undid England’s strong reply with his left-arm spin to grab 6-40. 5, made 27 but the rest of the batters crumbled. Root’s off-stump was knocked back by Naseem Shah before Minhas hurried through the middle-order as England lost the last five wickets for only 18 runs. Minhas was twice dropped on 42 off Curran and then smashed three boundaries against the left-arm seamer.
Minhas completed his exceptional day by running out Gus Atkinson with a direct throw. His feat makes him only the third Pakistani all-rounder, joining the ranks of Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi, to record a five-wicket haul alongside a half-century in the same ODI.
This result marks Pakistan’s second consecutive win in the tournament. England, having lost this opening fixture, is scheduled to face Sri Lanka on Thursday. Sri Lanka previously dropped their opening match to Pakistan by 37 runs on Sunday.
