Pakistan Thrash England to Reach Champions Trophy Final

As far as the result of the match is concerned, Pakistan thrashed England by eight wickets in Cardiff to book their place in the Champions Trophy final. Hasan Ali starred for them with the ball, picking up three wickets for just 35 runs from his 10 overs.

While Pakistan’s bowlers thrived on the slow wicket at Sophia Gardens, the same could not be said for England as all their key batsmen got in before throwing away their wickets.

However, the head coach was quick to remind himself of the dangers of being an uncertain team.

“Coming from Edgbaston which was a good wicket to a used wicket, we didn’t adapt very well”, Morgan told Sky Sports.

However, Pakistan’s power-packed line-up of fast bowlers is offset to some extent by the lack of too much firepower in their batting.

Pakistan were expert with the ball, and fielded increasingly well too after dropping three early catches.

Not only did Hasan step up to the occasion, he also ensured Pakistan were not hurt by the absence of their premier paceman Mohammad Amir, who had been ruled out with a back spasm.

Bairstow replaced Roy after the Surrey opener had managed just 51 runs in eight one-day global innings so far this season.

Eoin Morgan (33) and Ben Stokes (34) had both impressed during the tournament – the latter scoring a century last time out against Australia – but it was not to be their day as England wickets began to tumble.

The winners executed the flawless game as they chased down their opponents’ opening total, and they comfortably won the match by eight wickets in Cardiff, Wales. Everything we did play was quite calculated.

Meanwhile, England faced no such situation as they won all three matches in the group stage.

But on arrival in Wales, they found requirements were very different.

“I don’t think we were simply used to it”.

“Now the whole nation awaits our team making amends in the final against India – if they defeat Bangladesh“, Khan posted on Twitter as he congratulated Pakistan on its semifinal win over England.

Pakistan turned the run chase into a formality.

“I really hope that the seniors can take a leaf out of Fakhar’s book and play with a free mind”.

He declined to call on tournament organisers to change their pitch policy, however. “We’ve got a long way to go until we reach the level we want to get to and a level I believe we’re good enough to get to”.

“If they want it to be completely neutral ground and bring all the teams into (it)”. People call their unpredictability predictable but if you look closely, if Pakistan come out to win, they make sure they win. “I’m incredibly proud of how we pulled ourselves off the canvas after India“. “We were probably soft at times yesterday”, he noted referring to the quarter-final match against Sri Lanka on Monday. Pakistan belied their reputation as a poor fielding side, with Fakhar holding a brilliant diving catch at deep square leg to dismiss Moeen Ali, while substitute Ahmed Shehzad ran out Rashid with a direct hit. “That’s why we won”.