England’s Champions Trophy semi-final opponents on Wednesday will be Pakistan, who contrived a harum-scarum victory against Sri Lanka in Cardiff.
They won by three wickets when chasing a modest target of 237 but they needed an unbroken 75-run eighth‑wicket partnership – aided by dropped catches by the Sri Lankans – from the captain, Sarfraz Ahmed, and Mohammad Amir to secure their progress in the tournament. The last time Pakistan played England in Cardiff, in September 2016, they won so Sarfraz declared “confidence is high” before the semi-final.
“England are a world‑class team. They have been very good for the last two years. So we must play more positively against them,” he said. “Today our bowlers did very well at crucial times, I’m concerned by our middle order but we will sit down tomorrow and sort those problems out.
“All credit goes to the bowlers, Junaid [Khan] and Amir played very well. I’m very impressed with Fakhar [Zaman], too. He is a good prospect.” Sarfraz is a relatively new captain but is relishing the task. “I’m really boosted by my innings [61 not out],” he said.
Pakistan were expected to defeat Sri Lanka but they will not be favourites against an in-form England and Sarfraz implied that this would offer his side more freedom as the underdogs. Sarfraz will be free to take on the tournament hosts despite being fined 20% of his match fee, while his team-mates were fined 10% for their slow over‑rate against Sri Lanka.
