ICC World Cup 2019: Match 6, ENG v PAK – Pakistan Player Ratings

The high-scoring ground in Nottingham, the Trent Bridge, served a mouth-watering clash between England and Pakistan. It was an absolute humdinger and the fortunes kept swaying throughout. To start off things, Eoin Morgan won the toss and had no hesitations about bowling first. On this belter of a track, the Pakistan openers got their team off to a good start. 82 runs were added for the opening wicket before Fakhar Zaman fell for 36.

Imam-ul-Haq played a sluggish knock of 44 which came off 58 balls. The middle order played great cricket and corrected their mistakes from the previous game. While Babar Azam got 63, Pakistan rode off the heroics off Mohammad Hafeez. The veteran cricketer scored 84 off 62 balls while skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed got 55 runs from 44 balls. A few handy strikes from the lower order batsmen helped Pakistan get to 348/8 in 50 overs.

Joe Root scores the first century of the tournament

England suffered a massive blow early in the chase as they lost the wicket of Jason Roy for 8. Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes also failed to put the side in trouble. But Joe Root came up with a terrific century and scored 107 off 104 balls. Jos Buttler took over after him and kept the crowd on the edge of their seats with some scintillating batting. He scored his century in 75 balls but got out the very next ball.

He registered the fastest century for an England batsman in the World Cup and was looking threatening before Mohammad Amir got the better of him. The bowlers did well at the end to hand over the team a 14-run win. This ended the 11-match losing streak and brought jubilation to the Pakistan camp.

Here are the Pakistan Player Ratings for the match

Imam-ul-Haq – 7/10

Imam-ul-Haq provided Pakistan with a decent start in the game. While his contribution to the total was quite important, his strike rate was the only concern in this game. Imam scored at a strike rate of 75.86 on a belter of a batting pitch which was disappointing. In 58 balls, he managed to score 44 runs.

Fakhar Zaman – 5/10

Fakhar Zaman did a fair enough job at the top of the order with a 40-ball 36. He struck 9 good boundaries in his innings before he fell to the ploy of Moeen Ali. Jos Buttler was excellent behind the stumps to induce this dismissal.

Babar Azam – 8/10

Babar Azam, like he usually does, was yet again at his consistent best for his team. Batting at number three, he scored 63 runs off 66 balls and rotated the strike regularly. He hit four boundaries and a six but failed to convert it into a big hundred and thus loses out on a few points.

Mohammad Hafeez – 9/10

Mohammad Hafeez had a dream outing in this encounter. He enjoyed batting in these conditions and scored his runs at a brisk pace. In just 62 balls, he mustered 84 runs in an innings where he hit 8 fours and two sixes. He also dismissed the dangerous Eoin Morgan with the ball.

Sarfaraz Ahmed – 8.5/10

Sarfaraz Ahmed, who promoted himself up to the order, got hustling straightaway. He picked regular singles and doubles and complemented that with 5 fours. In 44 balls, he scored 55 runs and provided his team with the much-needed impetus towards the end.

Asif Ali – 3/10

Coming back from a personal tragedy back at home, Asif Ali didn’t have the best of outings. He scored 14 runs off 11 balls and hit one four.

Shoaib Malik – 3.5/10

Shoaib Malik batted way too down the batting order for his liking. He couldn’t really accelerate right from the first ball and failed to make an impact. While he scored run-a-ball 8 with the bat, Malik picked up the wicket of Ben Stokes with the ball.

Wahab Riaz – 9/10

Wahab Riaz might have conceded 82 runs in his 10 overs. But the way he bowled at the death was exemplary. He bowled his heart out and picked up three wickets in the game. He also took two great catches including that of Jos Buttler.

Hasan Ali – 6.5/10

Hasan Ali wasn’t amongst the wickets in this game. But on a high-scoring deck, he was quite economical and conceded 66 runs in the 10 overs that he bowled.

Shadab Khan – 8/10

Shadab Khan bagged two massive wickets in this game. Dismissing the in-form Jason Roy early in the innings was great. He further backed that up by also dismissing Joe Root just at the moment he was looking threatening.

Mohammad Amir – 9/10

Mohammad Amir executed the plans really well at the death. It was him who dismissed the danger man Jos Buttler just as he was taking the game away. Amir conceded 67 runs in 10 overs and even dismissed Jofra Archer.