SHARJAH: England’s limited over captain Eoin Morgan said on Wednesday he believed back-to-back victories in the ongoing one-day series against Pakistan augured well for his team, rebuilding after a disastrous World Cup earlier this year.

England were the only team amongst the top eight which failed to qualify for the quarter-finals in the 2015 World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand but have since beaten New Zealand 3-2, before losing to Australia by the same margin at home.

They are leading the four-match series against Pakistan 2-1 with a hard-fought six-wicket win in the third game in Sharjah on Tuesday, a victory described as ‘magnificent’ by Morgan.

“It was a magnificent win, we look to the next game to go on and win the series, we’ve earned the right to do that so hopefully we can produce another performance like that,” said Morgan ahead of the final match in Dubai on Friday.

Chris Woakes took 4-40 as Pakistan, sloppy with three run-outs, fell for 208 in 49.5 overs.

England wobbled at 93-4 but James Taylor (67 not out) and Jos Buttler (49 not out) anchored the chase during their unbroken 117-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

“The performance was hugely satisfying,” said Morgan. “I think one of the most pivotal things in the performance was the chase, the pitch turned a lot more than we expected it to.

“I thought the partnership between Buttler and Taylor was outstanding It’s a huge step forward for us, particularly our middle order and our batting unit having absolute clarity in what we were doing and playing in the positive way in which we’re trying to improve the way we play all the time,” said Morgan.

Pakistan captain Azhar Ali rued the middle-order slump, in which they fell from 132 for two to 161 for eight before Wahab Riaz (33 not out) helped them get past the 200-mark.

“Things were going pretty well. The start was good until we lost a few wickets, then the run-outs happened. I agree that the running between the wickets was not good,” said Azhar.

“As a team we are in the process of settling down,” added Azhar, appointed captain after the 2015 World Cup when Misbah-ul-Haq retired from one-day cricket.

“Definitely when a team loses it is not a good feeling. And when the doubts sink in then it is not a good feeling for the team and the country as well. I am part of the team selection.

“The last match is a must-win game for us. We will select the team based on the best eleven who can help us win the match.”

Pakistan have not played opener Ahmed Shehzad in any of the preceding three Test series – which Pakistan won 2-0 – and in the one-day series.

Pakistan won the first match by six wickets while England won the second by 95 runs – both in Abu Dhabi.

England were outstanding in all three departments as they bundled Pakistan out on a flat pitch for a low total and then rode an unbroken 117-run stand for the fifth wicket between Taylor and Buttler (49 not out).

Taylor smashed two boundaries off lanky paceman Mohammad Irfan and then clobbered a flat six to reach his fifty off 51 balls. In all he hit six boundaries and two sixes off 69 balls.

Buttler supplemented Taylor, hitting the winning six as the pair survived some anxious moments early on.—Agencies

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Azhar Ali run out36

Babar Azam c Rashid b Woakes22

Mohammad Hafeez c Root b Willey45

Sarfraz Ahmed c sub b Moeen26

Shoaib Malik run out16

Mohammad Rizwan run out1

Iftikhar Ahmed c Root b Woakes3

Anwar Ali c Moeen b Topley7

Wahab Riaz not out33

Zafar Gohar c Buttler b Woakes15

Mohammad Irfan b Woakes0

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-3)4

TOTAL (all out, 49.5 overs)208

FALL OF WKTS: 1-45, 2-92, 3-132, 4-135, 5-138, 6-145, 7-156, 8-161, 9-187.

BOWLING: Willey 10-0-45-1 (1w); Topley

10-0-41-1 (1w); Woakes 9.5-0-40-4 (1w); Adil Rashid 10-1-51-0; Moeen Ali 10-0-30-1.

ENGLAND:

J.J. Roy c Malik b Irfan7

A.D. Hales c Rizwan b Zafar30

J.E. Root c Iftikhar b Zafar11

E.J.G. Morgan b Malik35

J.W.A. Taylor not out67

J.C. Buttler not out49

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-3, W-6)11

TOTAL (for four wkts, 41 overs)210

FALL OF WKTS: 1-12, 2-27, 3-87, 4-93.

DID NOT BAT: Moeen Ali, C.R. Woakes, Adil Rashid, D.J. Willey, R.J.W. Topley.

BOWLING: Mohammad Irfan 7-0-29-1 (1w); Anwar Ali 3-0-17-0; Zafar Gohar 10-0-54-2 (1w); Wahab Riaz 6-0-23-0 (1w); Iftikhar Ahmed 4-0-18-0; Shoaib Malik 9-0-56-1 (2w); Azhar Ali 2-0-8-0 (1w).

RESULT: England won by six wickets.

UMPIRES: Shozab Raza (Pakistan) and J.D. Cloete (South Africa).

TV UMPIRE: C.B. Gaffaney (New Zealand).

MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Madugalle

(Sri Lanka).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: James Taylor.

FIRST MATCH: Abu Dhabi, Pakistan won by six wickets.

SECOND MATCH: Abu Dhabi, England won by 95 runs.

FOURTH MATCH: Dubai (D/N), Friday.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2015