Shadab Khan pulls off stunning heist in Pakistan's one-wicket win
Shadab’s stunning effort - 113* off 96 - usurped Ben Duckett’s century as he orchestrated the unlikeliest of wins for Pakistan
Shadab Khan pulled off one of the all-time great ODI heists, smashing a century from No.8 to overturn a seemingly easy England win into a sensational one-wicket victory for Pakistan in Lahore.
Having failed to defend 429 four days ago, England slipped once again in vastly different circumstances, stunned by Shadab’s late assault. On 19 off 28 at one point, he kept picking boundaries almost every over, cracking 113* off 96 to seal Pakistan’s place in the final of the tri-series. It also handed England their third defeat in a row.
No.11 Haris Rauf played his part with 7* off 19, hammering the winning runs in the 48th over to kick off wild celebrations. The rest of the 89-run stand, the highest ever for the 10th wicket in a successful ODI chase, was helmed by Shadab.
It was a remarkable partnership considering they had lost their ninth wicket in the 34th over: a chase of 242 looked as good as done. But Shadab smartly picked his moments to squeeze out boundaries, hitting 13 fours and five sixes.
It nearly ended rather anticlimactically when Shadab couldn’t pick a low full toss by Atkinson and was adjudged leg-before with 21 needed. But UltraEdge revealed an inside edge: by that time, the players were shaking hands, thinking the game was done. It wasn’t.
Shadab’s stunning effort usurped Ben Duckett’s century, which anchored England’s total of 241.
Put in to bat by Pakistan, England were quickly reduced to 19/3. Captain Shaheen Afridi pocketed Tom Banton for his 150th ODI scalp. Joe Root fell two overs later, slashing hard to backward point to give Shaheen his second. Brook was run out trying to steal a quick double after facing five dots from Shaheen.
By then, Ben Duckett had ambled to 7 off 12. Slightly scratchy to start with, Duckett became more assured with his punches and cuts, while also pulling and flicking anything drifting on his body. But he needed an ally to rebuild, which he found in Sam Curran.
With Saim Ayub and Salman Agha sharing an end, Curran eased in, even as Duckett kept ticking along. Duckett went after Agha, and a 12-run over prompted Shaheen to give himself a second spell. In hindsight, pace could have been introduced earlier against Curran. Shaheen tested him with short balls and eventually took him out with one.
Duckett marched along to his century, feasting on bad deliveries but preferring to accumulate runs otherwise. Arafat Minhas, who took 6 for 40 against the same opposition five days ago, came in to slow the game down further. A top-edge off a slog sweep brought Duckett’s fall. It took away England’s anchor.
Razaullah then attacked the lower-middle order with more short balls. That, combined with Minhas’s thrifty spell, ensured England didn’t really recover. Gus Atkinson’s three sixes ensured they crossed 240, but Shaheen returned to close off the innings with debutant Henry Crocombe’s wicket, ending a useful 40-run last-wicket stand.
Without the pressure of a steep run-rate, Pakistan could afford easing into the chase. The first three overs gave just six runs, before Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub took 12 from Crocombe’s second over. But both fell to loose shots in consecutive overs. Babar Azam was then cleaned up by an Atkinson peach; at 31-3, their poor start mirrored England’s.
Yet, Pakistan did not have a Duckett to hold the innings together. Saad Baig gave them a brief sparkle with seven fours in 19 balls, but fell to one shot too many. The scoring rate plummeted: they did not hit a single boundary for the next 15 overs. In that phase, Hasan Nawaz and Agha went through a snoozy rebuild, but two wickets in four balls gave England a firm grip on the game.
Agha was finally dismissed by Liam Dawson in the 29th over. The spinner had kept a chokehold through his entire spell, bowling 42 dots across ten overs.
But the Shadab assault came out of nowhere and conjured a comeback for the ages.
Brief scores: England 241 in 46.4 overs (Ben Duckett 105, Sam Curran 42; Shaheen Afridi 4-46, Razaullah 2-38) lost to Pakistan 243/9 in 47.1 overs (Shadab Khan 113*, Saad Baig 32; Jamie Overton 3-43, Liam Dawson 2-30) by one wicket.
