The anticipated whitewash was denied England by a Pakistan side whose spirit after a long and taxing tour cannot be questioned. After Pakistan were set 303 for victory on a slate-grey, rather than Bible-black day in Wales, Sarfraz Ahmed, retaining the jauntiness that has been his ally all tour, combined with Shoaib Malik to overhaul the target. This was a performance of great resilience from tourists who have made many friends this summer.
Pakistan won by four wickets with 10 balls to spare. Sarfraz, forever improvising and hitting his first six in 1,000 balls of ODI cricket, ensured his side were always up with the rate. His 90 came from 73 balls. His partnership with Shoaib, whose 77 was, by a margin of 39 runs, his highest score in England in 35 innings in all the various formats, was worth a vital 163 runs.
Both were especially severe on the left-arm spin of Liam Dawson, who was presented with his first ODI cap by Sir Ian Botham. Dawson’s first four overs cost 41 runs but he came back to dismiss Sarfraz and Shoaib when he was boldly give a second spell by Eoin Morgan. The captain was denied much variety in his desperate pursuit of wickets once it was decided to omit both Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid before the start. But Dawson’s intervention was too late to affect the outcome.
Sarfraz and Shoaib came together after Mark Wood had taken two wickets in his third over to knock back Pakistan to 77 for 3.
Sarfraz, who bats like an independent thinker, remained wonderfully phlegmatic while Shoaib has a wealth of experience to call upon even if his record in this country is so lamentable.
This pair stayed together for 24 productive overs. Initially there was the anticipation that Pakistan would fold since that has been the pattern of the series. Perhaps England fell into the trap of expecting that to happen. But the Pakistan pair kept advancing positively, however often Morgan shuffled his pace attack.
After both eventually fell to Dawson there was the standard harebrained run-out – of Mohammad Nawaz – courtesy of a superb direct hit by Jonny Bairstow from behind the stumps. But Mohammad Rizwan and Wasim Imad, who was born in Swansea 27 years ago, were calm enough to guide their team home.
Despite the murkiness of the morning and the hint of a damp pitch perhaps England should have scored more. They were heavily dependent upon Jason Roy and Ben Stokes. By his standards Roy hit a relatively restrained 87 from 89 balls (slower than his average strike rate) and Stokes struck a career-best 75 from 76 balls.
The realisation that this was Stokes’s highest innings in ODI in 44 appearances was a reminder that he has not really fulfilled his potential in this format – though it should be remembered that there remains plenty of time for that.
So England were able to post a total of 302, which in this era they might regard as a disappointment; in another it would have had everyone not necessarily high-fiving but certainly slapping backs and shaking hands vigorously. Here England would have been especially unhappy with the last ten overs of their innings, which delivered 58 runs for the loss of four wickets.
Their start was more invigorating. In the fifth over Alex Hales hit three consecutive off-side boundaries against Mohammad Amir before mistiming a drive against a slower ball to mid-on. Joe Root’s inside edge then cannoned into the stumps to give Hasan Ali the first of four wickets and when Morgan drove a full toss gently back to Wasim, England were faltering at 92 for 3.
Roy accepted the burden of ensuring a substantial target alongside Stokes, who was initially as wary as an accountant. Occasionally Roy allowed himself the luxury of a reverse sweep and twice, even more impressively, he advanced down the pitch to Shoaib’s off-breaks to hit skimming straight drives that bounced off the black tarpaulins that serve as a sightscreen at the River Taff End.
Roy seems to score his runs so easily in ODI cricket with that extra millisecond of time not afforded normal batsmen. This often prompts conjecture about Roy’s Test prospects. He has some but they would be enhanced significantly if he batted in the first four for Surrey rather than at five or six. England have half a dozen players who can bat down there but there are vacancies higher up.
Stokes played a canny innings. It took him 32 balls and a bit of luck to reach 12. Against Wasim there was a missed stumping and a close call for lbw. But then a skimmed drive for six against Mohammad Nawaz triggered his acceleration. There would be two more mighty sixes before Stokes was caught at short-fine leg scooping.
There was a skittish 33 from Bairstow but not much from anyone else. Dawson could make no more impression with the bat than with the ball. Any notion he could be part of the Test squad for the winter constitutes wishful thinking on the grandest scale. This game, though not strictly relevant, will have done the 26-year-old no favours despite those two late wickets.
Sarfraz was man of the match and Root the man of the series that ended with England victors by 4-1 and the conclusion that Morgan has a fine team at his disposal but not an invincible one.
