Series defeat looms over Pakistan as wickets keep tumbling
Pakistan were reeling at 131/5 at the end of 21 overs in pursuit of a mammoth 445-run target against England in the third of the five-match ODI series on Tuesday at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
The visitors seemed like putting up a fight when opener Sharjeel Khan smacked 12 fours and a six to take Pakistan to 83 before falling on the last ball of the 10th over.
The left-hander's wicket was followed by the departure of middle-order batsman Babar Azam (9) and veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik (1) who were dismissed by Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett respectively.
Pakistan were three down when Sharjeel fell after scoring a 30-ball 58, his second half-century in the format.
Opening the innings along with Sharjeel, Sami Aslam (8 off 13) lost his wicket in the fourth over when he pulled Chris Woakes for Moeen Ali to take an easy catch.
29 runs later, Pakistan captain Azhar Ali was caught at the third-man when he charged down the wicket to clear mid-off only to edge Woakes.
England innings
England piled up 444 runs, the highest ever total in the history of One-day cricket.
The Three Lions broke Sri Lanka's record of 443 runs which they scored against Netherlands in July 2006.
England captain Eoin Morgan (57 off 27) and wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler (90 off 51) plundered the Pakistan bowling attack as the duo amassed a 161-run partnership in a space of 12 overs which included a total of 12 sixes and 10 fours.
The hosts were unmoved despite losing two well-settled batsman in Alex Hales and Joe Root in the space of six balls from 37th to 38th over.
The second-wicket stand of 248 runs came to an end when Hasan Ali trapped Hales, who registered the format's highest score for England, LBW after the right-handed batsman had plundered 171 off 122 balls.
The 27-year-old hit 26 boundaries — 22 fours and four sixes.
England one-down Joe Root fell 15 runs short of his career's ninth ODI century when Nawaz induced a thin edge of the 25-year-old's bat for Sarfraz Ahmed to catch.
Root's 85 came in 86 balls at a strike rate of 98 that included eight fours.
Earlier, the hosts' opening partnership was dismantled in the sixth over as right-arm fast-bowler Hasan Ali dismissed Jason Roy caught behind when the batsman attempted a pull-
Roy, after scoring 15 off 19 balls, gloved the 38th ball of the innings in the air for Sarfraz Ahmed to safely collect it.
England were 38 for one, when the star of the first ODI fell.
Replacing Roy, Root settled himself by snatching a boundary off Ali early on in his innings.
Earlier, Roy and Hales started the proceedings on a high note for the hosts, scoring boundaries at regular intervals.
The first two fours, however, came due to the misfields by Mohammad Nawaz and Babar Azam in the first and the second over respectively.
Toss
Eoin Morgan elected to bat first after winning the toss. Talking to Michael Holding after the English captain's decision, Pakistan captain Azhar Ali admitted that he would have loved to bat first.
Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz replaced Imad Wasim, who was forced to sit out due to knee injury.
The visitors have had a disastrous start to the series as they lost the first and second ODIs by 44 runs (D/L method) and four wickets respectively, hence putting themselves under immense pressure to win the Nottingham game and keep their series-winning chances alive.
England, on the other hand, will be looking to seal the series by beating Pakistan in the third consecutive clash between the two sides.
Pitch and weather report: The wicket is deemed to be a flat and hard, making it a good batting surface. The sun is basking on the picturesque Trent Bridge ground.
Team line-ups
Pakistan
Azhar Ali (capt.), Sami Aslam, Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk.), Shoaib Malik, Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz
England
Eoin Morgan (capt.), Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk.), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood