AGENCY
CARDIFF: An unpredictable Pakistan today stunned England by eight wickets to enter their maiden Champions Trophy final, continuing their sensational run in the tournament.
Pakistani bowlers produced another professional performance to restrict the formidable England batting line-up to 211 after Sarfraz Ahmed opted to bowl on a used surface.
The star with the ball was once again pacer Hasan Ali, who ended up with a three wicket-haul for the third time in as many games.
It seemed Pakistani batsmen were batting on a different pitch during the chase as they cruised to complete the target in 37.1 overs, after openers Azhar Ali (76 off 100) and Fakhar Zaman (57 off 58) provided a perfect start.
The duo shared an 118-runs stand off 127 balls ensuring Pakistan gets home comfortably.
The remarkable result also made a mockery of pre- tournament talk and predictions as the eighth-ranked Pakistan pummeled title favourites England to reach the final at The Oval on Sunday.
Pakistan surprised many by bouncing back brilliantly from their heavy loss against India in the tournament opener to beat South Africa and Sri Lanaka enroute to the last four.
They have always been an unpredictable side but England, the only undefeated in the league stage, were expected to get past the sub-continent squad with little difficulty.
The same England batsmen, who batted with flair and finesse through the tournament, came a cropper in a high stake semifinal. They found it hard to keep the scoreboard ticking and losing wickets at regular intervals made life tougher for them. Not a single six was hit in their innings.
Pakistan, on the contrary, came out for the chase with a plan.
Ali batted solidly while Zaman attacked from ball one despite being tested with a lot of short balls.
Zaman, playing only his third ODI, went for the big shots and even though he mishit a lot of them, kept on playing in the same vein. The southpaw ended hitting seven fours and a six, that came off a top edge over the wicketkeeper.
score board
England innings
JM Bairstow c Mohammad Hafeez b Hasan Ali 43
AD Hales c Babar Azam b Rumman Raees 13
JE Root c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Shadab Khan 46
EJG Morgan* c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Hasan Ali 33
BA Stokes c Mohammad Hafeez b Hasan Ali 34
JC Buttler† c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Junaid Khan 04
MM Ali c Fakhar Zaman b Junaid Khan 11
AU Rashid run out (sub [Ahmed Shehzad]) 07
LE Plunkett c Azhar Ali b Rumman Raees 09
MA Wood run out (†Sarfraz Ahmed) 03
JT Ball not out 02
Extras 06
Total 211/10
Pakistan innings
Azhar Ali b Ball 76
Fakhar Zaman st †Buttler b Rashid 57
Babar Azam not out 38
Mohammad Hafeez not out 31
Extras 13
Total 215/2