THE atmosphere was festive here at the Eden Gardens on Saturday. The celebratory air was such that even a dead rubber had pulled a 37,661-strong crowd at the iconic venue.

The cricket, however, was bland, boring as the attendance turned sparse towards the end of the clash between Pakistan and England – clearly the most disappointing teams of the World Cup.

Both sides came into the match on equal footing, but Pakistan proved to be even worse than their opponents on a hazy night.

They had nothing to lose in this encounter, especially after England had won the toss and batted first, which meant Pakistan would need to chase down the target in a maximum of six overs — an unrealistic equation — if they were to better New Zealand on net run rate and advance to the semi-finals.

All Babar Azam and his men could do was entertain the cricket lovers who had turned up in numbers. They didn’t even do that, apart from a 53-run quickfire partnership between tailenders Haris Rauf and Mohammad Wasim.

Clearly lacking intent and the drive to end their dismal campaign on a good note, Pakistan went down by 93 runs with New Zealand securing a spot in the last four.

It was clear how Fakhar Zaman, Pakistan’s opener and clearly the team’s only x-factor, was being heavily depended on to boost Pakistan to chase down a 338-run target.

Fakhar and his opening partner Abdullah Shafique were removed by medium pacer David Willey within the first three overs and then Pakistan started proceeding towards a painstaking defeat.

Captain Babar got in, played some good-looking strokes for a slow 38 and got out to Gus Atkinson’s pace. Mohammad Rizwan hardly looked settled in his 51-ball stay for 36 before being cleaned up by Moeen Ali. Saud Shakil only showed glimpses of his potential before being bamboozled by an Adil Rashid googly.

By that moment, the ground was nearly noiseless as Rashid went on to do the same to Shadab Khan after Iftikhar Ahmed was undone by Moeen.

If there was any resistance shown by a Pakistan player, it was by Salman Ali Agha, who struggled his way to 51 off 45 balls before Haris (25 off 23) and Wasim (16 off 14) hit some lusty blows.

England, meanwhile, looked like a side who wanted to feel good before packing their bags and going home. With the win, they ensured a spot at the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

The first half of the match was all about momentum swaying from one team to another. It was just that when England had it on their side, they made the most of it.

Pakistan, as it had been a pattern for them throughout the tournament, were poor in the field at crucial moments of England’s innings.

One of those moments was when all-rounder Ben Stokes gifted pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi with the simplest of catches off his own bowling and the latter turning it down, horribly failing to grasp the ball in his follow through.

Stokes had only 10 runs against his name at that point, with England working out a way past what had been a tight bowling show by Pakistan.

The England Test captain went on to scamper 84 off 76 balls, an innings studded with 11 fours and two sixes, which would set the basis for the side’s formidable total.

Stokes’ innings was anchored by Joe Root’s much slower 60 off 72 as the seasoned pair combined for a third-wicket stand of 132 off 131 balls.

The stand complimented a 72-run partnership between openers Jonny Bairstow (59 off 61, seven fours and six) and Dawid Malan – who was also dropped by Shaheen off his own bowling early on.

After Malan fell prey to Rizwan’s sharp catch behind the wickets off Iftikhar’s off-break and Bairstow became the first of pacer Haris’ three victims, it was time for Stokes and Root to stamp their authority.

Having hit Shaheen straight down the ground for a boundary on the very next ball after being dropped in the 25th over, Stokes took on the Pakistan pace spearhead for three more in his next over as England looked to up the scoring rate.

Stokes crossed the fifty-run mark with a reverse sweep off Salman’s off-spin and then went for a full onslaught.

The talismanic southpaw clubbed pacer Wasim for six over long before scoring four more in the same region in the next over and then powered Salman again for two boundaries and another maximum after England had crossed 200.

Root, who had been quieter at the other end, pounced on two loose deliveries by Wasim, flicking and cutting off the right-arm pacer, to get his second and third boundary in the 39th over before bringing up his fifty.

It was Shaheen only who broke the partnership to give Pakistan hope to contain England from a big total as the pacer dislodged Stokes’ off-stump with an in-dipping yorker.

Shaheen struck again, this time finding Root’s leading edge for Shadab to take a brilliant catch at point as the ball looped over his shoulder.

Pakistan’s fielding horrors continued as Haris dropped Jos Buttler at eight, also stepping on to the boundary to concede a six off Shadab.

Buttler would depart soon after but not before hitting three sixes and a four for 27 off 18. Harry Brook, who had bludgeoned Shaheen for two sixes and a four in the 45th over, added 30 off 17.

Both batters’ knocks were cut short by Haris — Buttler was preyed upon by his direct hit to get run out, while Brook was caught at cover off Haris.

Haris’s third victim was Moeen Ali, who was cleaned up before Wasim dismissed David Willey — the tailender playing a five-ball 15-run cameo – and Atkinson in two balls in a row.

Scoreboards

England vs Pakistan

ENGLAND:

D. Malan c Rizwan b Iftikhar 31

J. Bairstow c Salman b Haris 59

J. Root c Shadab b Shaheen 60

B. Stokes b Shaheen 84

J. Buttler run out (Haris) 27

H. Brook c Shaheen b Rauf 30

Moeen Ali b Haris 8

C. Woakes not out 4

D. Willey c Iftikhar b Wasim 15

G. Atkinson b Wasim 0

Adil Rashid not out 0

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-2, W-12) 19

TOTAL (for nine wkts; 50 overs) 337

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-82 (Malan), 2-108 (Bairstow), 3-240 (Stokes), 4-257 (Root), 5-302 (Brook), 6-308 (Buttler), 7-317 (Moeen), 8-336 (Willey), 9-336 (Atkinson).

BOWLING: Shaheen 10-1-72-2, Haris 10-0-64-3 (3w), Iftikhar 7-0-38-1, Wasim 10-0-74-2 (1w), Shadab 10-0-57-0, Salman 3-0-25-0.

PAKISTAN:

Abdullah Shafique lbw b Willey 0

Fakhar Zaman c Stokes b Willey 1

Babar Azam c Rashid b Atkinson 38

Mohammad Rizwan b Moeen 36

Saud Shakeel b Rashid 29

Agha Salman c Stokes b Willey 51

Iftikhar Ahmed c Malan b Moeen 3

Shadab Khan b Rashid 4

Shaheen Shah Afridi lbw b Atkinson 25

Mohammad Wasim not out 16

Haris Rauf c Stokes b Woakes 35

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-5) 6

TOTAL (all out; 43.3 overs) 244

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (Abdullah), 2-10 (Fakhar), 3-61 (Babar), 4-100 (Rizwan), 5-126 (Saud), 6-145 (Iftikhar), 7-150 (Shadab), 8-186 (Salman), 9-191 (Shaheen).

BOWLING: Willey 10-0-56-3 (2w), Woakes 5.3-0-27-1, Rashid 10-0-55-2 (1w), Atkinson 8-0-45-2 (2w), Moeen 10-0-60-2.

RESULT: England won by 93 runs.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: David Willey (England).

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2023