Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

AN Cook
AN Cook
137(142) 14x4 - 0x6
Control %87%
  • Productive Shot
  • leg glance
  • 41 runs
  • 3x4 - 0x6
5 7 19 11 35 18 12 30
RS Bopara
RS Bopara
50(69) 4x4 - 0x6
Control %80%
  • Productive Shot
  • off side drive on front foot
  • 19 runs
  • 3x4 - 0x6
5 1 5 2 11 6 12 8

Best performances - Bowlers

Saeed Ajmal
Saeed Ajmal
O10
M0
R43
W5
Eco4.30
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
ST Finn
ST Finn
O10
M1
R34
W4
Eco3.40
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF

Match Details

Toss

England , elected to bat first

Player Of The Match

Series result

England led the 4-match series 1-0

Match number

Season

Hours of play (local time)

15.00 start, First Session 15.00-18.30, Interval 18.30-19.15, Second Session 19.15-22.45

Match days

13 February 2012 - day/night match (50-over match)

Reserve Umpire

Match Referee

Scorer: Gopi Rangarajan | Commentator: Alan Gardner

END OF OVER:
35 | 7 Runs 1 Wkt | PAK: 130/10 (131 runs required from 15 overs, RR: 3.71, RRR: 8.73)

  • Wahab Riaz8 (21b)
  • Stuart Broad6-2-21-1
  • Graeme Swann7-3-19-2

So, England win by 130 runs, ending Pakistan's seven-match ODI winning streak in the process. Not even Nostradamus saw this result coming. Winning the toss looks to have been key, as batting under lights was so difficult for Pakistan - there was only a little seam movement for Finn but he exploited it ruthlessly. Alastair Cook, meanwhile, can have a wink and a smile ready for the next time he bumps into the likes of Botham and Atherton.

As Khurram notes: "So Pakistan lose by 7 runs to Alastair Cook."

Pakistan, meanwhile, looked a shadow of their hungry, relentless selves of the last few weeks. Ajmal's second spell aside, the bowling was workmanlike and none of the batsmen was able to last very long at the crease - Umar's 39-ball innings was the most enduring. Still, I'm sure we can let them off the odd slack showing, given the sustained excellence of some of their cricket in recent times.

Awards time ... Cook gets most runs (as if we needed to be told that) and he's also named Man of the Match. There are also assorted baubles for Saeed Ajmal and Steven Finn.

Misbah-ul-Haq: "The batting [let us down] - 260 wasn't a big score. I know that batting under lights is difficult but we have to do better against the new ball. Otherwise the wicket played very good. Of course, we can come back. We're going to come back, do things right on Wednesday."

Alastair Cook: "It's been a hard tour, it's been frustrating we haven't played up to our potential ... Glad we got off to a winning start today. It's a different format, less pressure around the bat. Ravi came in and played very well and that helped me. All the lads put in a good performance. Finny bowled well, backed up by Jimmy and Broady - it was a good team performance."

That's the presentations done with, then. England are 1-0 up, with three matches to go - we'll see if Pakistan can strike back against the empire on Wednesday. Thanks for your comments - cheerio!

34.6
W
Broad to Saeed Ajmal, OUT, thank you! Ajmal top edges a pull and captain Cook runs around from mid-on to claim the catch at mid-off, almost colliding with a team-mate in the process. The last-wicket malingering comes to an end after 17 runs in almost six overs and England have won. Hark at that!

Saeed Ajmal c Cook b Broad 5 (29m 21b 0x4 0x6) SR: 23.80

34.5
2
Broad to Saeed Ajmal, 2 runs, dropping short and Ajmal swivels to execute a somewhat ungainly pull. More tailender batting, please!
34.4
1
Broad to Wahab Riaz, 1 run, targeted at the batsman's body, who flips it towards deep square leg
34.3
0
Broad to Wahab Riaz, no run, short, fast, left alone outside off
34.2
4
Broad to Wahab Riaz, FOUR, drops short and belted baseball-style for a one-bounce four over long-on. That's more like it
34.1
0
Broad to Wahab Riaz, no run, outside off, pushed into the covers

Seriously, what do these two think they're doing? I know Pakistan have been very good at Test cricket recently - but someone has informed them of the change in format, haven't they? Anyway, Broad replaces Finn ...

England tour of United Arab Emirates 2011-12 News

Pakistan 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st11Imran FarhatMohammad Hafeez
2nd0Imran FarhatAsad Shafiq
3rd16Imran FarhatYounis Khan
4th13Imran FarhatMisbah-ul-Haq
5th13Misbah-ul-HaqUmar Akmal
6th15Shoaib MalikUmar Akmal
7th28Shahid AfridiUmar Akmal
8th13Shahid AfridiUmar Gul
9th4Saeed AjmalUmar Gul
10th17Saeed AjmalWahab Riaz