Captain Sarfraz proud of Pakistan young guns

Sarfraz did admit, though, that it would be a boost to have Amir when they face either India or Bangladesh at The Oval. Azhar continued with Babar Azam till he was bowled by Jake Ball in the 32nd over. We are evolving as a team. But three days later Pakistan returned to the Birmingham ground to make a mockery of the rankings by beating South Africa in a bottom versus top clash.

PROBABLE ENGLAND XI: Roy/Bairstow, Hales, Root, Morgan (c), Stokes, Buttler (wk), Ali, Rashid, Plunkett, Wood, Ball. “It’s my brother’s birthday tomorrow, so I dedicate this award to him”.

Morgan promised that the humbling loss to Pakistan would not change his team’s approach as they continue to prepare for the 2019 World Cup.

“I think it will have to evolve in whatever manner the game does over the next two years in the lead-in to the World Cup, but certainly I think we’re moving in the right direction”. We did not prepare. “Pakistan bowled well but we didn’t manage to adjust with the bat”. 200 was not a competitive score. It’s the way tournament is. It’s the test of the Champions Trophy and you have to be prepared for it.

Sarfaraz, like many back home and the coach Mickey Arthur, was anxious about team’s struggling middle order but he still hasn’t lose the hope from the experienced players in the side, who are finding it hard to perform with the bat.

“So I think part of playing positive cricket, we’ve adapted well and played a lot smarter cricket in this tournament”. Everything that we played was pretty calculative.

England are the favourites and Pakistan are the unpredictable darkhorse going into this game.

Soon, Sarfraz felt disappointed on one aspect and you will go ROFL after knowing the reason. “We have traditionally made heavy weather of some small chases and today [Monday] we nearly threw the game away chasing another below-par score”, Afridi added. Rumman played unexpectedly today but did well. The 100-run stand between the duo came in the 18th over and England bowlers looked flat in conditions that suited the sub-continent team more than them.

However, that backing has softened in the light of Roy’s repeated failures and Morgan, fresh from his impressive 87 in England’s group win over Australia, indicated Tuesday the team could not afford to “carry” anyone as they went in search of a first major ODI tournament triumph. Every game was a knockout game. “I know that people back home always pray for us and we will try not to let down the nation”, said Sarfraz.

But Arthur was in no doubt of England’s quality, saying: “They’re a really good one-day unit with no apparent weaknesses”. He is very energetic and he is bowling well. “That if wetook it to the 40th over we would win”, Sarfraz said.