by The Pakistan cricket team were trolled heavily on Twitter after their crushing 9-wicket defeat to a second-string England side in the first ODI in Cardiff on Thursday. The Pakistan fans made no intentions to hide their emotions after the Babar Azam-led side were first bowled out for 141 inside 36 overs and then managed to get only one English wicket as the hosts chased down the target in just 21.5 overs.
The fan reactions were largely because of the unexpectedness of the events that turned out at the Sofia Gardens Cricket Ground. Pakistan were deemed the favourites to win the series after England were forced to name an entirely different and inexperienced ODI squad after a virus outbreak in the camp sent their first-XI into isolation.
England gave debuts to as many as five cricketers in the first ODI under stand-in captain Ben Stokes. But as it turned out, the young England side outplayed Pakistan in pretty much all the departments.
Also Read | Afridi reacts after Pakistan’s dismal loss to inexperienced England in 1st ODI
While some fans slammed Pakistan for their disappointing show, others trolled the Men in Green with some hilarious tweets.
Here is how the fans reacted to Pakistans 9-wicket loss to England in the first ODI
Enough of this frustration and humiliation. This team reminds me everytime why I started watching football. Thanks God Euro is still here.
— Zain (@Zain_Nayyar) July 8, 2021
Sri Lanka played better than this against full strength England
— Tiger Fan – Rakshat (@Sabalenka007) July 8, 2021
Pathetic performance from Pakistan in every department. Big wake up call. Against England 3rd eleven it was the worst performance i have seen for a very long time. Club level batting, very average bowling sorry not good enough guys. Now you have to win both to win the series.
— khayam Zafar (@khayam999) July 8, 2021
Seamer Saqib Mahmood seized the unexpected opportunity 10 months since his last international appearance, taking two wickets in the first over of the day and finishing with career-best figures of 4-42 as Pakistan crumbled to 141 all out in 36 overs.
A slender chase was devoured with unerring ease, test regular Zak Crawley posting 58 not out in his first white-ball innings for England and Dawid Malan effortlessly compiling an unbeaten 68 as they needed less than 22 overs of the allocated 50.
England would have settled for a solid first over from him, but he produced a spectacular one. His first ball was quick, tight to the stumps and cramped Imam-ul-Haq just enough to trap the opener LBW on DRS.
That meant an early entrance for Babar Azam, the world’s No. 1 ODI batsman, but he was soon making an early exit too. His second ball from Mahmood had a hint of swing and just enough threat to demand attention, clip the edge and carry through to Crawley at slip. At 0-2, Pakistan had been rattled instantaneously.
Gregory had a tough act to follow at the other end but he quickly settled into a rhythm and hit the jackpot with his eighth ball, nicked in the channel by Mohammad Rizwan and sailing into the gloves of Simpson.
When Mahmood pinned left-hander Saud Shakeel leg before from round the wicket to make it 26-4, there was a faintly surreal hint of a rout.
Fakhar Zaman and Sohaib Maqsood briefly settled in, tripling their side’s score with a 53-run stand. Fakhar rolled his wrists on a couple of glorious pull shots off Craig Overton, and Maqsood produced one audacious blow off pacer Carse, stepping away and pounding a flat six over extra cover.
But their fightback ended in a calamitous run out, Maqsood (19) stranded after a poor call from his partner. Rather than atone for his error, Fakhar compounded it with another misjudgement that cost him his own wicket after a well-made 47.
Offered width by Matt Parkinson, he leaned back and cut straight to point. The legspinner, who has countless air miles and net hours with England since his last competitive outing in February 2020, drew a handful of mis-hits before Hasan Ali’s hack earned him a second success.
There were drops, Malan diving in the deep, Simpson standing up to the spin, and Parkinson underneath a dolly, but the innings was still wrapped up with 14 overs to spare. Mahmood added Faheem Ashraf to his career-best haul and Craig Overton took care of the last two to open his own ODI account.
The chase was a gentle one but Salt, England’s first Wales-born player since Simon Jones in 2005, missed out.
He had 7 when he aimed a big swing at the stirring left-arm pace of Shaheen Shah Afridi and edged to second slip.
There was no pressure to score quickly but when Malan peeled off four boundaries in the space of nine deliveries it nudged England’s powerplay score up to a lively 61-1.
The boundaries continued to flow, Crawley taking a liking to Haris Rauf.
England reached 100 in the 16th over — 10 overs quicker than Pakistan for five fewer wickets — and Malan brought up his own half-century with a slice of luck, inside-edging a reverse sweep for four. Both batsmen moved smoothly past fifty, Malan at exactly a run-a-ball and Crawley even quicker. Crawley helped himself to the winning run.
(With agency inputs)
