Mohammad Hafeez headlined a return to form for Pakistan's batsmen at the Cricket World Cup, making 84 off 62 balls in the team's 348-8 against ragged England on the world-record batting strip at Trent Bridge on Monday.
Pakistan bounced back from being dismissed for 105 in its heavy opening loss to West Indies by setting a competitive target for England, which was uncharacteristically sloppy in the field — except for Chris Woakes, who took three fine catches in the deep.
Pakistan’s 348 in fact is their second-highest World Cup score. If England do manage to chase down the target, it will be the highest successful run-chase in World Cup history.
Pakistan’s Highest Totals in World Cup Matches
- 349 runs vs Zimbabwe at Kingston in 2007
- 348/8 vs England at Nottingham in 2019
- 339/6 vs UAE at Napier in 2015
- 338/5 vs Sri Lanka at Swansea in 1983
Everyone in Pakistan's top order made starts, with Hafeez, Babar Azam (63) and Sarfaraz Ahmed (55) going on to score half-centuries. Hafeez was on course to post the first century of the tournament in its sixth match, only to hole out to Woakes at long-off off Mark Wood (2-53).
The recall of Wood was expected to lead to the kind of short-ball barrage that the West Indies delivered against Pakistan on Friday, but it didn't materialize on a dry pitch. Offspinner Moeen Ali returned England's best figures, 3-50 off his 10 overs.
England has set world-record ODI totals at Trent Bridge twice since the 2015 World Cup — against Pakistan in 2016 (444) and then Australia last year (481).
For a team that prides itself on its fielding, England was ill-disciplined throughout Pakistan's innings. Jason Roy dropped Hafeez on 14 — that proved to be very expensive — and Joe Root gave away a boundary in overthrows that took Sarfaraz to his 50. A misfield by captain Eoin Morgan in the first over set the tone.
It was typical for Pakistan, on a run of 11 straight defeats in completed ODIs, to rebound just when critics were writing them off.
An opening stand of 82 between Fakhar Zaman (36) and Imam-ul-Haq (44) gave Pakistan a fast start before Ali took the first of his wickets, wicketkeeper Jos Buttler producing some deft work to stump Fakhar.
Ali got a second wicket thanks to some brilliance near the boundary from Woakes, who raced to his right and dived to take a two-handed catch to remove Imam for 44. It didn't quite compare with Ben Stokes' outrageous catch against South Africa, but it was a rare highlight for England here.
Ali helped put the brakes on Pakistan, but a total of more than 300 always looked likely and the team easily cleared that by making 99 off the last 10 overs.
Jofra Archer went for six off the last ball of his expensive 10 overs and returned 0-79. Shadab Khan thrashed a four off the last ball of the innings.
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