England finish their awful World Cup 2023 campaign with a huge 93-run win against Pakistan on Saturday, November 11. Pakistan's slim chances of reaching the semifinal ended when they lost a toss and were forced to field while England secured the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 berth with back-to-back wins.
Ben Stokes played out another exceptional knock while Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow added crucial fifties to help England score 337 runs while batting first. Then David Willey and spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali impressed again to bowl out Pakistan on just 244 runs.
Playing their last group-stage game, both teams eyed different targets going into this game. Pakistan needed a miracle to ensure a knockout qualification and England were chasing a consolation win to seal a place in the next ICC Champions Trophy edition.
The defending champions received a big start with openers Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan scoring 82 runs for the first wicket. Bairstow ended his poor run of form as he scored 59 runs, his only second fifty in the tournament. But it was a sensational 132-run stand between Stokes and Root that made a difference today,
Stokes registered his third successive fifty-plus knock by top-scoring with 84 runs off 76 balls and Root returned to form by adding 60 runs. Harry Brook and Jos Buttler produced quick cameos in the closing stages as England managed to put in a huge total of 337/9 in 50 overs.
Pakistan were put to an impossible task as they needed to chase the target inside 6.4 overs to secure the semi-finals. They lost opener Abdullah Shafiue on the second ball of the game and in-form Fakhar Zaman on just one run in the third over.
Willey dismissed both Shafique and Zaman and Pakistan never managed to make a solid comeback. Captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan added 51 runs for the third wicket to raise some hopes for Pakistan. Atkinson dismissed Babar on 38 runs to give England a breakthrough and then spinners dominated the middle overs to guide England to a terrific win.
Agha Salman top-scored with 51 runs for Pakistan and Harisa Rauf-Mohammad Wasim added 53 runs for the last wicket in late hopes for a win. But England walked away with a 93-run win to bag two crucial two points.
England Playing XI: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid
Pakistan Playing XI: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf
