In Pakistan cricket’s history, an annihilation holds special significance. When kept down, the team stays down. But when sunk to a bottomless pit, their upsurge gets triggered.
It is what Pakistan has us accustomed to since their victory in the 1992 World Cup.
The present team’s winless encounters prior to this World Cup were growing increasingly alarming.
Their skipper was active but far less inspirational, their much-talked-about bowling lacked sting, the batsmen were failing to find the right tempo to succeed in ODI cricket.
But still entered the tournament with the ‘unpredictables’ tag.
Perhaps Pakistan beating England is anything but an upset. It was stunning yet intelligible enough for a side whose customary measure of fix is always to defy the odds.
Although the game against the Windies was a sure-short casualty, they were a far better side than their disastrous display last week.
Not that the victory was perfect. The tourists clung on to a triumph in what was a fundamental step to gaining a lifeline. And that triumph came in with luck on their side for the first time since they landed on English shores.
But the heart of the matter was that Pakistan found their feet, around some relatively unlikely heroes.
By bringing in Asif Ali and Shoaib Malik, they had made their intentions crystal clear. They were up against a well-oiled machine, equipped to gun down any total – even over 350. They were defending nearly a total of 350 against a side that faced their last defeat at home while chasing back in the year 2015 and who they couldn’t stop scoring 340 and 358 a few weeks ago.
There also were safeguarding the score on a deck that has been spiteful to the bowlers.
But Pakistan stalled the English juggernaut by inviting a fresh set of concerns. When the outcry was for Asif Ali to come to the crease, Sarfaraz Ahmed surfaced. The skipper made a confidence-boosting fifty but could have cost the team the final flourish had it not been for Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan.
They dropped Joe Root just when they could’ve tightened the screws and later Chris Woakes when he was taking the game deep. But they also held on to timely catches that saw them arrest the losing streak.
They took a step and steps as the match progressed.
What’s next? Pakistan have found the way out of extreme depths to outclass the very best. When playing as they played on Monday, is there anything to do but be in awe by how they rule the stadium?
Aayushman
Roar Guru
I agree on it, Paul; recently, their motto is "Go big or go home". But somewhere I had the feeling they are going to beat England. When the chips are down, somehow Pakistan are inspired to hold it all together.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Worth noting that not one -ie zero – of the team that beat England was in any of the Pakistan XIs that Australia played in the the last two games in the UAE in March/April, and there were only two others played in the first three – Shoaib Malik and Imam up-Haq, none of the main bowlers. So it was truly Pakistan B. Worth remembering when a lot of the hype about the Finch-Khawaja opening partnership was built on this series. Imagine how well our B team would go! Well we saw it a year ago in England, when our ODI team got thrashed, with only Finch, Maxwell and Stoinis of the current team playing in most of those matches.
Paul
Roar Guru
hi Smudge They are such a gifted but flukey team, I have great admiration for their fans, because they seem to win rarely in recent times, but win big when they do. That said, they're a great team when on song. It's so hard to know with Pakistan whether this win was an aberration or they've genuinely turned a corner. The game on Friday against Sri Lanka could be a beauty, if both sides play to the best of their ability.