Dear reader, online ads enable us to deliver the journalism you value. Please support us by taking a moment to
Sarfraz Ahmed produced a superb captain's innings following a top-order collapse to see Pakistan into the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy with a three-wicket win over Sri Lanka at Cardiff on Monday.
Pakistan, chasing a seemingly modest 237 to win, slumped to 162 for seven.
But Sarfraz's 61 not out and Mohammad Amir's 28 not out saw Pakistan home with 31 balls to spare after they shared an unbroken eighth-wicket partnership of 75.
Man-of-the-match Sarfraz, crucially dropped twice, ended the contest when he uppercut Lasith Malinga for four.
It was his fifth boundary in 79 balls and led the joyous wicket-keeper to run a semi-circle round the ground.
Pakistan will return to Sophia Gardens for a last-four clash with tournament hosts England in Cardiff on Wednesday.
Earlier, Pakistan induced a middle-order collapse as Sri Lanka slumped to 236 all out.
Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka had to win on Monday to join already qualified title-holders India from Group B in the knockout stages of a tournament featuring the world's top eight one-day international sides.
India will play Bangladesh in Thursday's second semi-final at Edgbaston, with the final at the Oval on Sunday.
In what was a 'must-win match' for both sides, Sri Lanka were dismissed for 236 ─ well below the modern-day ODI 'par' total of 300.
And it seemed like it wasn't going to be their day when Pakistan opener Azhar Ali was dropped on nought by Asela Gunaratne at point.
But fellow opener Fakhar Zaman was far more dynamic, hitting three fours in as many balls off the unorthodox Malinga.
In just his second match at this level, the left-handed Fakhar completed a 34-ball fifty.
But, two balls later, he fell for exactly 50 when a top-edged hook off Nuwan Pradeep was caught by Gunaratne at fine leg.
Pakistan, then 92 for one, saw three wickets go down in a hurry.
Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez both fell to tame legside catches before Azhar's painstaking 34 ended when he fended at paceman Suranga Lakmal and Kusal Mendis held an awkward catch at a wide slip position.
Shoaib Malik (11) then feathered a catch behind following an attempted pull off Malinga.
Fahim Ashraf thrillingly hooked Malinga over long leg for six but the ODI debutant was run out for a run-a-ball 15 when bowler Thisara Perera deflected a Sarfraz drive onto the stumps at the non-striker's end
Perera drop
Sarfraz was now the key man but Sri Lanka dropped him on 38, when with Pakistan 194 for seven, Thisara Perera at mid-on floored the simplest of catches.
And he was missed again, on 40, when substitute Seekkuge Prasanna dropped a far more difficult chance running in from deep square leg.
In the end, Sri Lanka were made to pay for a poor batting display.
Sent in by Sarfraz, they were making steady progress at 161 for three while top-scorers Dickwella (73) and captain Angelo Mathews (39) were together at the crease.
But the loss of Mathews sparked a middle-order collapse that saw four wickets lost for just six runs as Sri Lanka slumped to 167 for seven.
Only same late tail-order hitting, including Suranga Lakmal's ODI best 26, got Sri Lanka past 200 in an innings where Pakistan pacemen Junaid Khan (three for 40) and Hasan Ali (three for 43) did the bulk of the damage.
All-rounder Mathews, fresh from an unbeaten fifty in Sri Lanka's shock seven-wicket victory over India, drove off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez for six, while Dickwella ended a sequence of 54 balls without a boundary by cover-driving left-arm spinner Imad Wasim for four.
Mathews, however, fell when an inside edge off Mohammad Amir gave the elated left-arm paceman his first wicket of the tournament.
In what turned out to be a brilliant all-round match for wicket-keeper Sarfraz, he held a superb low one-handed catch to dismiss Dickwella after the batsman got an inside edge to Amir.
Teams
Sri Lanka: Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews (cpt), Dinesh Chandimal, Asela Gunaratne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep
Pakistan: Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (cpt)(wk), Imad Wasim, Fahim Ashraf, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan
Comments (440) Closed
difficult decision but I still think hafeez should have been left out instead of shadab
All the best team green ! after crushing srilanka enjoy the iftaari in grand style !
Sticking with Azhar Ali and Junaid khan is poor and timid selection. Rumman Raees and Shadab would have been a surprise package. Junaid will leak runs and Azhar will waste too many bowls.
They can chase??
Be aggressive Pakistan!
Best of luck, Srilanka
All d best pakistan from india want to see ind vs pak final
If it rains, pakistan is out of the series based on run rate. And it is cloudy..
@RajuRoy As well as India can bowl.
You hardly see Pakistan chasing down targets comfortably.
Good luck Pak. Will meet in the final again.
Srilanka is scoring @6.6 per over runrate
Srilanka will win, should win as it is a better side
At the end of 3rd over SL were scoring at 6+
I just hate azher ali and his presence on pitch Such an ugly sight to see him bat
With azher ali as their opener Pak cant chase nth
1 down, Gunathilaka gone. (Why Sri Lankan names are difficult to pronounce?)
Go Sri Lanka go....south Indians support Sri Lankans !!!
Game looks dull without spectators.
good luck men in green, hope to see you in the final
all the best for Sri Lanka
we want India-Pak final match, for that Pak must be win today's match..
Srilanka will pile on 300+ plus runs and then result will be inevitable..England vs srilanka
@Desi_Baba , Didn't we see that in two of the matches? vs pakistan and vs South Africa and also in the friendly matches? At the other hand, Pakistan is not same as it used to be 10 years back. It's difficult for the team to chase a score.But all the best. We always want to see both the teams in the final.
Praying for a Pakistan win from India
@Kailash Singh : It is a full packed stadium. At present I am in the stadium watching match.
@Indiapower nope. They should lose. Pakistan is India 's favorite team to win
Can they chase, the whole question is??
Irrespective of who wins today, three out of four semifinalists are neighbors !
Babar caught sleeping on field...who is batting second is winning due to weather...Pak in advantage
@Desi_Baba Didnt you see our bowlers steal the game yesterday v/s South Africa? Can you batsman "steal" the game bro?
Being an Indian, I am supporting both my neighbors and enjoying each ball
@Ravi-Pune : Really!! you want to see another boring one sided match!
Doesn't look good at the moment
Hassan Ali bowls out Mendis great delivery
2 dow, Hasan Ali is showing some element.......................
South Asian giants ? On what basis?
3 down now, Good show Fahim Ashraf.
@Desi_Baba "As well as India can bowl." Ummm... out of the 5 matches (including 2 practice matches), India bowled the opposition out for less than 200 in 4 matches. So Bowling is not a weak spot for India.
Shadab Khan should have been in the team in place of Imad Wasim.
@Desi_Baba He he, nice dual, I have lot of fun reading cricket comments.
India vs pakistan in the final. InshaAllah.
Go Sri Lanka Go! Best wishes from India!
Scoring rate has gone down after two quick dismissals Pakistan needs to put pressure on SL
Hope SL wins here. Would love to see Ind-SL in finals as a revenge match for india.
Great going Sri Lanka. Anything more than 250 runs would be difficult for Pakistan to chase.
I want Pakistan to win. Good luck Pakistan..
Keep going Pakistan.
Pakistan in control of the game now, SL might set target of max 280 if they continue in current mode
its 162 for 6, Now Pakistan should win this and the next game against England
Another SL wicket falls, max target revised from 280 to 250
@Indiapower i hope you are following the match hehe.......163/6 superb bowling by Pakistan....
6 down,runs 162 so far :-) i am at the match with my 9 year old son!
7 down for 167
Why is Imad in the team? He has just misfielded twice. His ball doesn't spin an inch and he is a below average batsman.
With bowlers having done very good job with 7 scalps, Pakistani batsmen must keep their cool, runs would automatically come to them.
Go green go. Make it to the semis. Good luck.
Pakistan on top right now. Great bowling.
Bowlers are doing great, restricting SL to 184 for 7. It looks like SL WOULD BE all out for 230 or less.
This seems to be bowling pitch, 250 runs will b, very good.
Again Pakistan team s surprising every one, SL team is making silly mistakes. Pakistan is in control now, but still 250 will b a competitive score on this pitch
Srilankan tail wagging...pakistan shud hv contained them below 200..now 210..with 7 down
Tear into SL team in do or die game, liked the heading if this article. But is it true, SL tail s doing well
Sl will win
Well done green-shirts. Keep it up and hang on tough. May God Almighty bless you all and grant your more successes during the on-going Holy month of Ramadhan-ul-Mubarak 1438 A.H. Aameen, Tsum Aameen.
237 is the target for Pakistan. All Pakistan needs to do is to play their natural game, avoid playing lofty shots, scoops and taking risky singles. Remember 237 will not be an easy task for Pakistan, they have to be very very careful in their chase. Best of luck.
It seems, younger brothers will take revenge of elder brothers. Good Luck Pakistan! Chase the score successfully.
My understanding is that team batting first in ODI has a better chance of winning the match more often than not that's why most teams that win toss in ODI elect to bat first. Not my team. Its great to have faith in our bowlers to restrict the opponent to a sub par total, but do we really think that that our batsmen have the temperament to chase a half decent total. Did we not learn from what happened a week ago. All the best to Pakistan's team but I have a sinking feeling.
Good contest. I much rather face Pakistan in semi than Srilanka. Pakistan bowling misses the length and direction. Fielding is sub par. Srilanka looks more of a disciplined team in defeating India. Their fielding is good too.
Well done Pakistan, once again proved quality of pace is THE best in the world. I wonder how unbeatable a team will be if we combine Indian Batsman and Pakistani Bowlers. Good luck Pakistan - you can do it
Achievable target.
Mr Inzimam please get your'e eyesight checked, Azhar Ali 0 of 10 balls cant you see you are opening with a test batsman!! this is Odi not test for god sake!!
If Pakistan can bat for first 10 overs without losing any wicket, we will win this game. It is the 5th over going on.
Inshallah our boys will win this game.
37 for no loss in 7 overs, with a six.
Pakistan doing great by scoring 43 runs without losing any wicket.
Surprise batsman like fakhar zaman debue age 27 where is he?
Want Pakistan to win. Otherwise, Champions Trophy will be less attractive.
All the best from India.
Pakistan going great...
No need to wait for the match to get over. Sri Lankan team can book a ticket for back to home
Our boys are playing well. Hope we win this match.
Few topmost bowlers and fakhar have changed whole team...this team is awesome great
Fakhar Zaman has laid a solid foundation. Azhar Ali has used up a lot of balls now his job is to stay and guide the team through. 237 is not a big ask and only need a required rate of 4.2runs per over from here. As long as we have wickets in hand this is very much an achievable task.
What a journey Fakhar zaman has from Pakistan Navy to Pakistan team
Babar Azam OUT.....Is there a procession now ??? Lets watch.....
Hafeez out for a lousy shot. How many chances he gets before getting kicked out of the team.
For Godsake get rid of this hafeez from this side, he is good for nothing player who's only job is to waste delivers. The way he got out today shows his class
Babar and hafeez will be key players to Chasedown the target
Predictable Hafeez
Just imagine: Azhar made 34 runs in 50 balls. Is it good or bad? ... Well, Azhar could have got out for duck, than run out soon after. he survived. Still, his tuk-tuk batting means he scored 34 runs in 50 deliveries. Now think, if all batsmen play like Azhar than since there are 300 balls, Pakistan total would be 204 runs (34 x 6) from bat in 300 balls (50 overs). Would that going to be winning score (and that also if batsmen do not get out early)?
Such a louse batting side. Get rid of Azher, Hafeez, and shoaib malik now bring new talent like fakhar
@The Alchemist -BOTH ARE ALREADY GONE.
Now it's Sri Lanka's turn Pradeep he has taken two very important wickets Pereira has dismissed Mohammad Hafeez Both, Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez played careless shots and lost their wickets. Now Azhar Ali did the same mistake and Sri Lanka are very much back in the game after Azhar's departure. Pakistan making the same mistakes.This match is still wide open.
Pak 110/4 to be collapsed soon.
121\4 is this the pak play not impressed the way they chase
Isn't the same pattern evident. Azhar, Babar and Hafeez do not have the ODI mindset. They are inefficient in rotation and waste too many dot balls. Contrast this with Fakhar Zaman, he rotates and aggressively but responsibly scores for the team.
If Pakistan win from here I will be surprised but my heart wants Pakistan to win, want to see Indian Pakistan final.
I wish Pakistan wins this match and we can beat them again in finals..
these two batsman has to finish this game else No hope if they loose any more wickets then thy wil in big trouble RR is also very less get close to the total we want pak to b in semi final
Tragic collapse. Most unpredictable team in Cricket.
azhar ali and m. hafeez should respectfully resign from one day format. especially m. hafees is worst player i have seen recently.
133/6 pakistan
Pak 131/5 collapsing continues. It would be a miracle if Pakistan win the match from here on, yet miracle do happens in the cricket. Lets see...
Things are not looking good gor Pakistan 137/6 Once again PAK chasing weakness is exposed. Sarfraz has to hang in there till the last. Best of luck from India. Want to see Pak in Semi Finals. Hang on guys.
Pakistan batting needs lot of improvement . They are very poor at chasing even small totals
why sarfraz was so reluctant to bat first despite the fact that Pakistan always struggle chasing ?
Once again Pakistani players are showing their stupidity at their best. Except for Fakhir no one played well and throw away wickets. Change everything starting from management otherwise nothing will improve
Why is Imad in the team? His ball doesn't spin an inch, he is a below average batsman and a average fielder. Some people were suggesting him to be captain. What a joke
138 / 6 in 26 overs. Pakistan is sinking and let us celebrate.
With 137 for 6, result could be anything. Anyhow, regardless of the result, Pakistan did big mistakes in selecting playing 11 and also in order batsmen came. First of all, Haris Sohail should have been in team instead of Hafeez. ... Look at their ODI average and SR. When Haris Sohail averages at 43 with SR 83, Hafeez averages 33 with SR 75. Haris Sohail is younger than Hafeez too, so why play Hafeez when Haris Sohail was available.
Second thing is sending Azhar to open, when he should have come in at 7 (after F Zaman, Srafraz, Malik, Babar, Shoaib, Haris and Imad ... as all these players can bat with better SR than Azhar. It also means that at lower end of the inning, there is some who can do tuk-tuk.
Poor batting.. most PakistanI batsman are Chumps. Why are guys like Fakhar not selected earlier in their career ?
Come on, hang on and keep going Pakistan. Come on.
The worse batting side there is. Get rid of Hafeez, Azhar, babar and malik. Give chance to young talents like fakhar and faheem
Pakistan don't give up. I still smell a win for green shirts. Just keep a cool head and bat out the 50 overs....damn cant be that difficult a task
Win or lose, Pakistan has to find replacements for Azhar Ali, Hafeez and Imad Wasim. Many may disagree with me on Imad Wasim but his bowling is not in that class where you can select him if does not bat properly.
@Shahid Bhat-Kashmiri I wish same, but final will be decided on the day
These so called senior players play so many ODIs but can't score runs in big matches.
Mohammad Hafeez - 1 run after 187 ODIs Shoaib Malik - 11 runs after 249 ODIs Azhar Ali - 34 runs after 47 ODIs
Same old story of collapse in style. Shame on the players who cannot chase a modest total. Hell with PCB and the selection committee. If given the same training , I can scoře better than these hopeless players.
They cannot even chase a target of 240
@Shahid . Absolutely agree with you. Imad is an overrated below average player. Azhar Ali needs to go as well.
One way of improving Pak cricket is to change the administration, PCB should be headed by former PAkistani players. Pakistan also needs to find replacement for some of their players like Hafeez, Azhar, Babar etc. Why Fakhar Zaman was saved till the last? Why admins didn't selected him for the first match of CT-17?
If some body is determined to loose, no one can stop him from doing that. This is the case with Pskistan Cricket Team. Deliberate attempt to let down the team.
162 for 7, very interesting, tension building.
Come on Pakistan. Support you. Simply play like a test match, required run rate isn't high. Please keep wickets in hand. Play cautiously. SL can't win unless they bowl Pakistan out.
162/7. Assraf also gone. Loving it.
Now that is some pure bad luck .... Ashraf run out.
Fahim's run out was very, very unfortunate. Sheer bad luck rather unfair. When things are against you , not much can be done about them.
Whyy Hafeez whyyyy hez playing. ...why Azhar we need match winners not gali players
I already knew when Srilanka made over 200 runs that Pakistani batting lineup is not capable of handling any score over 150-175 runs. Many so called experience / senior players are dead weight in the team, nothing else. Very disappointed and poor batting performance by players.
250 matched not enough for Malik?
Azhar to be restricted to TEST and his score should be counted in for balls.
Hafeez must go home.
hafeez is a dry boy, a real dry boy and i cant believe they insist on playing this useless batsmen, i could score more than him
Pakistan needs a revolution to clean up its politics and armed forces to regain its nationhood and flourish in its culture, arts and sports. Only the generals and politicians enrich themselves from the statusquo.
Looking at the pathetic batting display, do we really deserve to be in the semi final? I don't think so.
@Optimist Azhar did better than everybody. Sarfraz is a poor captain.
Whole match is around to sarfaraz'wicket
@Manesh Thank you so much for your good words Manesh.
Pakistani captain will win the game.
Sensible batting now. Looks like Pakistan will hold their nerves and see this through.
Amir has this special quality. He has a hunger in the belly. Fantastic partnership with the captain. Value a win and your wicket. Way to go Pakistan team. You have shown heart / jigar.
Drop catch by Perera, which no one drops like that. Looks Iike Pakistan bought/rigged this match
Please drop Hafeez and promote Faheem up the order. He seems to be a better at playing short balls than his team mate Fakhar whose footwork is not as good as Faheem's. Azhar Ali needs to increase his strike rate by taking more singles and rotating the strike. Send Shoaib Malik as one-down. Babar lacks confidence. And Imad should be sent as 8th or 9th, way after Amir.
Two catches dropped, luck is with Pakistan who is going to win. Congratulation in advance.
You lucky Sarfraz, you HAVE to do it for Pakistan now.
Common Pak.. thrash the lankans
I CAN SMELL VICTORY FOR PAKISTAN.
Sri Lanka is playing to loose.
Pakistan captain playing innings of life time
Pak is through. Hopefully the critics will eat their words and give credit to the coach and captain.
@RajuRoy Honestly,pakistan shoud be appreciated foe limiting srilanka for 236. also, scoring 206/7@ 41overs despite wickets falling 2 regular intervels. 3runs/over...with 2-3 4s over all is more than enough for pakistan to win.no need t go for big shots; just singles; enough defending wickets.
Well good show in the end by Pakistan. Sarfaraz is a champ and should bat up the order. Wish to see India Pakistan final.
Pak inching closer to victory, sensiblebatting by Sarfraz & Amir.
Promote Amir up the order, he is more sensible then the top order.
Well played Pakistan
I am very much sure and Wish Pakistan will win this match.. and also they will beat England and we will enjoy final: Ind VS Pak on sunday
Poor fielding efforts from Sri Lanka, dropped Sarfraz twice.
Congratulations Pakistan,,, thanks to sarfaraj and Amir
Pak won, take a bow, Sarfraz. He's running around, pumping fist, breathing fire. He has ushered Pakistan in the most unlikeliest of semifinals ever. Regards from India
Well done Pakistan
Mohd Amir is actually man of the match for giving excellent support to his captain. Congratulations Pakistan for a hard earned win which I had already done before.
Congratulations green shirts for getting into the semifinals, especially when you were the complete underdogs. However, with this type of performance, it will be very difficult for Pakistan to go against ENG.
congratulations Pakistan ..
Congratulations Pakistan.
Finally, finally. Congrats , we are in the semi final. What a match! Thank you SL for sloppy fielding.
Just Lucky due to SL fielding. Nothing else to admire this team.
Great match and a well deserved victory. Pakistan is back on top and a favorite to win in the finals!
Congrats Pakistan. Well played!
Congrats Pakistan for a spectacular win. Miracle did happen in the cricket today.
Sarfaraz Ahmed you beauty. What a fighter Sarfaraz Ahmed. Aamir is a true champion as well. Pakistan Zindabad
Lots of Congratulations to Pakistan Cricket Team.
Congratulations Green Shirts. Excellent job done. Our heroes are Fakhar Zaman, Sarfaraz, Amir, Hassan ,and Junaid.
How long will you act like stupid. Get rid of Hafeez, Azahar, Babar, and Shoaib now. and give chance to new talents
I want to see final between india vs pakistan
We have done it
I want to se e final between india vs pakistan
there was race of dropping catches among all 8 teams , SL won that...
Well played Pak under pressure!...love from India.
Well played Sarfraz. Real captain innings. Hafeez should be penalized for his irrespondible innings.Amir is giving his hundred percent after his return. Overall good job. Best of luck for the semin final.
Congratulation Pakistan !!!! Played liked chanpions today...Love from India
Keep the Same Squad against England , it will work and if Pakistan will the Toss , will bat first to have very reasonable score. I Believe Final will be between India and Pakistan
@Sadiq the way amir played shows there is something special about this team
Many Pakistanis are criticising Azhar Ali. I think he batted good. When Fakhar Zaman is playing good, then Azhar Ali should give strike to him and moreover Pak is not chasing a huge total, so balls can be wasted.
I think Azhar Ali is a good opener for Pakistan. Imad Wasim should concentrate a bit on batting.
Congratulations Pakistan ! Hope to meet you guys in the finals. Just hoping that we win against Bangladesh and you guys win against England so that there is another Indo Pak match ;-)
Please No more Hafeez and no opening with Azhar in semifinal
Hearty congrats to pakistan for winning this important game and qualify for the semifinals.Fakhar zam an has shown his intent to be in pakistan team as an opener.Well played sarfaraz to take this game to an end it deserved. Place for hafeez in the team is still questionable.Time to introspect and replace him for the semifinal game.
Good to see the pakistan fight. Best of luck for the semis...
Man of the match should go to Amir (not sarfraz). Too many dropped catches for him. He wouldnt survive against a quality bowling/fielding. Amir's innings was GEM of an innings though.
Heartiest congratulations to Pakistan. Sarfraz play the captain innings and Amir no dought a world class bowler today play like a world class batsman. What a come back. Except Pakistan play with India we used to support Pakistani team. Like me millions in India love to watch a good Pakistani team. Good luck for England match. Waiting for you in final.
Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and Amir were the heroes of this match. To me, Amir deserves more accolades for this do-or-die martch. WELL DONE AMIR. YOU CAN BE A GOOD ALL ROUNDER AS WELL. Keep it up.
Inshallah pakistan won :)
Imad . hafeez and shoaib shoild be sent home on the first available flight .Get rid of these ageing ducks. Well done Sarfraz and all the fast bowlers
Sarfraz Ahmed is the first Pakistan captain to win Man of the Match award in Champions Trophy.
Fact #File
Amir played gem of inning,always getting behind the ball.Sure Man of the Match in our book.
Hafeez and Azhar don't deserve a place in playing 11.
I think Hafeez should be retired from international cricket, very unpredictable cricketer.
I mean no disrespect, but I highly doubt Pakistan can overcome a powerful English side in semis. I would say Pakistan V Sri Lanka is a game of who played less worse.
We have to find replacements for Azhar Ali and Hafeez for sure. And I am thinking Babar Azam too. They play as if they are playing a test march. Geez man this one day cricket.
Sarfaraz is a gem. Congrats Pakistanis and keep thumbs up for England. Well done Sarafaraz and keep it up.
get rid of hafeez.shoaib.imad plz . include youngsters . well done skipper
Not happy at all. This is not how one is suppose to play ...
Congrats Pakistan.
Credit goes to Amir , he played well , Sarfaraj dropped twice bcoz of bad fielding , All credit goes to Sri Lanka for this win . Wish a final between indo Pak
What I told was happened.Pakistan won the match. Will see India-Pakistan final.
Congratulations Pakistan,
Both teams tried their level best to lose, lol SL outdid Pakistan in that
I said the other day also, SL had a fluke day against India. They can't bowl, they can't bat and their fielding is perhaps funniest of all teams here. Lol
Pakistan cannot possibly hope to go further than this in the tournament. They cannot bat to save their lives ! England will lynch them bare on the 14 th . I think even Pakistanis themselves know that they were lucky that Australia had such bad luck with rain and SA didn't even show up in the whole tournament.
Can anybody tell me wts hafeez doing in team.. does he remeber when he lead team to victory
Congratulations Pakistan...what a thrilling chase and win
Hafeez no go. Bring Shadab in.
Well played Sarfraz & Amir. Congratulated Sarfraz & Amir Best of Luck pak team. Sharjeel, Fakhar, Babar, Harish/Umar akmal, Malik, Sarfraz, Fahim, Sadab, Amir, Hasan, Junaid are best 11 in odi
@Murli Dharan from Lahore Babar still can be tried further but Hafeez and Azhar Ali should be said 'good-bye'.They are selfish cricketers.In the next match, Haris Sohail must be given a chance in place of Hafeez.Don't get scared that he has not played for Pakistan since WC 2015.I hope,he will score at least whatever Hafeez scores.
How long do we have to see Hafeez in the side? This guy needs to be dropped quickly. He is not a genuine cricketer.
All well that ends well. Thank you team Pakistan.
Good to see Pakistan through. Though, it again exposes the fragile batting, that this is a 250 run batting team. So, if bowlers can collapse opponent like today, they will have fair chance of winning. Wish all the best for Semi, though it's very unlikely, still as a Indian, we love to play final against Pakistan and win the CUP.
Bring in Harris Sohail to replace with Hafeez in the Semi.
Pak can't make too many changes at the last moment for a semi final game but necessary to throw out Hafeez ASAP and not before shaming him severely and growing arrogance of Imad, even without any reasonable performance in the recent times, should not be tolerated and he as well should be shown the door. Play with whoever is sincere and can keep his head down.
Please...drop Hafeez for the next match. Please please!
Congrats Pakistan.
@Optimist What's your opinion now?
Congrats green shirts. Every body is praising your performance. I'm happy that you won. But not a convincing performance. All the best
@Sab se pehle pakistan "Sarfaraz Ahmed you beauty. What a fighter Sarfaraz Ahmed. Aamir is a true champion as well. Pakistan Zindabad"
Don't get overconfident. Other teams would have taken those catches. Your next match is with England. They're going really strong.
Those who are belittling Srafaraz need to know he was given number 8 team to lead, with sifarishi players from Punjab like Azhar, Hafeez, Babar and Imad.
For him to lead the team to semifinal no matter how is a victory. long live the true son of Pakistan
I was shocked by the victory speech given by Sarfraz. Did not give any credit to team members that performed - particularly the bowlers and Fakhar Zaman in batting. No call out to Fahim who made a very good debut. No acknowledgment of the opponents whatsoever. Compared to that despite all the disappointment he must have felt, Mathew spoke with dignity and gave credit to his bowlers that was well deserved.
Pakistan has almost made a mess of such a mediocre run chase. Had those catches been taken it would have been a different story. They just got lucky. You cannot afford such lapses against England because they'll destroy you.
Congratulations to Team Pakistan and the Nation. Wish that both Pakistan and India reaches fine and you can revenge your defeat (guess not as an Indian:-). Let's hope the best team wins! Cheers for Bangladesh, Pakistan and India for winning the Champions trophy. An Indian...
Saved by Sarfraz and Amir but it should not have been so tense. Pak were 74/0 at one stage and it should have been a straight forward run chase from there. They made a real meal of the modest target of 237. uncharacteristically sloppy fielding by Lanka, normally very safe in the field but put down a couple of catches. On today's evidence though, England will thrash us in the semifinal at the same venue (Cardiff). Pakistan need to sort out their batting. Hafeez perhaps should be dropped and replaced with Haris Sohail
Congratulations pakistan.
Most of you already commented, however, I would like to say Imad should be replaced with Shadab and another specialist batsman should come in for Hafeez
Hope 12th man LUCK play for poor Pakistan side against England. Srilanka was horrible in fields today.
@V. Yuvan "I mean no disrespect, but I highly doubt Pakistan can overcome a powerful English side in semis. I would say Pakistan V Sri Lanka is a game of who played less worse"
Its no dis respect. Its a reality we like it or not here in Pakistan. I am personally not happy with this win.
Well that was typical of Pakistan! Make a straight forward chase a mess. Good luck for the simi final.bring in Harris for Azhar and Shadab for Imad.Amir was my MOM. Faheem is a good find.
Pakistan won the match depending mainly on luck and performance by the captain.Bowlers did well too.But once again nonsensical performance by the senior batsmen specially Babar,Hafeez Soheb and Imad is really pathetic to see.Please give chance to new players instead of these constant non performers.Luck will not always help them.
Congratulations Pakistan.. it was really wonderful match.. hope we will have another India vs Pakistan..
Sarfraz was right!
Wow, so many indians supporting pakistani team, quite a rare scene. Btw i was also supporting pakistani team and they won. Wish people of both the countries keep supporting each other in every field
Congratulations to Team Pakistan and special thanks to Sarfaraz & Amir. Happy to see Amir converting into a reliable all rounder he should work hard with his batting skills.
Bravo Sarfraz. You proved me wrong that it was not a good decision to win the toss and elected to field. I will gladly eat my words and thank you for proving me wrong. All the best in the next stage. Regardless of what happens, its great to see three Asian teams in the semi final stage.
happy to see three Asian sides in the semis.
@Optimist what a poor analysis :)
@Harshad Whatever dude, Pakistan won by luck and this luck will not help them against England who have much better fielding and they don't drop catches. Two catches dropped against dangerous bowler Malinga saved Sarfraz.
Want to see a India Pak final...hope for good. Well done neighbour
Congratulations. But what lies ahead is crucial and that would require planning and nerves. There is no room for erratic and nervous display.
Why 237 was looking like a 337 to us? Why can't our top batters bat like Amir. BTW he looked more solid than Sarfraz today.
Its such a shame we cannot get basics right.
Its good to see 3 Asian Teams in the semis.
Very Low quality win. The diabolic fielding effort by the Sri Lankans saw Pakistan home.
All "Parchi" players failed to perform yet again. All these so called senior players should be kicked out of the team asap. They are a hurdle for Sarfawarz as well. Im sure Sarfaraz as captian can do even better when these slackers are kicked out.
Take note selectors !!! who do you need for the upcoming series. KICK out all these "vacation-players" who make it a habit of going to the overseas matches at this poor country's expense, take their whole families plus relatives and friends and have a good shopping and party time. Babar Azam, Hafeez and that spoilt husband of the tennis player aka Shoaib Malik.
well done pakistan stay blessed
Credit goes to both Aamir and Sarfraz. Aamir has proved a sensible batsman.
@Optimist I agree with you for Azhar's part. But Junaid is bowling exceptionally well. Don't tell me you're trying to create hype for Ruman Raees. He would get his chance but for now Junaid deserves to be in the team.
I wish both India and Pakistan to be played in a final match against each other in the champions trophy.
@terrible victory speech by Sarfraz - "I was shocked by the victory speech given by Sarfraz. Did not give any credit to team members that performed - particularly the bowlers and Fakhar Zaman in batting."
His ability to speak English is limited and that is why he did not elaborate on the performance of different players.
@Rahul - "Don't get overconfident. Other teams would have taken those catches. "
The same applies to catches dropped during Pakistan's game against India.
Congratulations from India !!!
Credit goes to sri lankan fielding for their brilliant work in last few overs which helped pakistan sail through
Once again our batting triumph was based on luck. Semi finalists England will not give you chances like this. And our new batters lack batting technique. The left hander does not even have a proper bat holding technique and seems to get himself in an awkward position when playing a short ball. Pakistan continue to play chance cricket where as India have emerged as a far more professional unit. Losing or winning is part of the game but we need professionalism. Hafeez saying he likes Pakistan's unpredictable tag shows the mentality.
Guys cool down, we are in the semi final now. I know it was not a convenience win, but fact is we won it and moved to semi final. But I am excited for another reason, we could see a another battle of India and Pakistan if we can beat England in the semi final. India is definitely a better side, but don't forget that Pakistan is most unpredictable team in the world and beat any team when they are on song. So lets make a game plan, beat England and move on final. It will be one of the most memorable final in cricket history, trust me.
in all the noise, Amir's contribution isn't getting the credit it deserves. He got two of SLs top batsmen out and then superby exceeded expectations with a record setting stand for 8th wicket. And not to berate Sarfaraz, but held flawlessly till the end with a no-chances innings. In my opinion, he was the man-of-the-match, although the numbers don't show it.
Pakistan didn't play well, it's just luck didn't favour SL at all. Otherwise Pakistan was about to fly back. It's a game of middle order batsman and green shirt is far behind top teams.
We desperately need changes in this squad: Imad Wasim needs to be dropped and Haris Sohail must play. Hafeez's place can be given to Shadab Khan.
My joint MoM are Fakhar Zaman and Amir.
When Sharjeel comes back.. boy we will come and get you all!
Very disappointing to see some people with "ism" are bashing Sarfaraz. He is doing an exceptional job as a captain, wicket keeper and batsman. What else do you want from him? He has lead world number 8 team to the semifinals. Support Sarfaraz regardless of which part of Pakistan he belongs.
@Naveen kumar shah many of my friends were supporting India against south Africa too. Goes back to that love hate relationship we have.
I only watched the match for less than 5 five minutes...because i cant deal with the heartache anymore...that time sar faraz was batting with score 0....I just said to myself "Sarfaraz kabhi dhoka nahi daiga" and turned the TV off...Pakistan zindabad!
Phew ! After the hiccups that the middle order batsmen caused,Pakistan finally won against SL and into the semis ...Congrats Team Pakistan .
After semi Pakistan would revenge India
Pakistan should make one change and take Azhar out and put a better one day batsman. Hafeez can open if need be. Other than that team is a good combination.
Fakhr Zaman's positive batting in the early overs relieved the run rate pressure from the batsmen and was pivotal for both Pakistani wins. Replacing Shahzad and Wahab has helped Pakistan significantly. Malik and Hafeez's poor performance with the bat may make them the next targets for young guns.
Well done Pakistan, excellent win..
Pakistan has batting problems. Therefore strengthen the batting by bringing in Haris Sohail in place of Imad Wasim who has not contributed with the bat. Haris can bowl left arm orthodox spin.
@aruk No Pakistan would like to play finals against Bangladesh !
Best day of Pakistan after some time! That too in the holy month of ramadan!
Hard fought win over Pakistan. If the catches were taken by Sri Lanka the result should have been different.
@malik
I doubt any Asian team is going to win CT. England is too strong , at least in their home conditions
Why the "hero" label?
It was more of a luck rather than a consistent team performance. This lucky star behavior should not be deemed as the strength of the team.
The headline does not do justice to Amir's efforts. He took crucial wickets and then provided a critical partnership to steer Pakistan to victory.
Sarfraz is the best but some political mind like Hafeez and Malik will cause some problem. Sarfarz should open. Good luck Pak team
Pakistan heading towards the champions cup. They will pick it up.
Pak team have no chance against England, if not this one they would be out on the next match. They simply don't have any world class batsman. How do you play cricket with out batsman?
Let Pakistan get one more opportunity to defeat India.
@Optimist Junaid z best of rest of the teamll
Junaid z best of all rest of the team
Basically, from a political perspective, it's The Colonialists (England) versus the three countries of its erstwhile colonies (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan) in the knock-out stage of this tournament. So, let's hope one of these so-called third world countries knocks out England in the end to retain the trophy in the sub-continent. All in all, a very heartwarming feeling to see the 'underdogs' in the last four. We, the Asians, have always been considered as upcoming teams but never given our due stature by the ICC in the past. Now, with this situation in mind, hopefully, the cricket administrators will mete out the treatment that we deserve.
The good news is we have entered the semi finals of ICC. This is the toughest challenge Pakistan will be facing in the on going series. A team that has been deprived of International Cricket at home since many years and inspite of India's continued refusal to play is once again emerging as a superstars team. The rival team England is a well balanced and powerful team where as our weakest link is fielding. Also, Pakistan needs to make some changes in the playing eleven and the batting order as well. I think there is no place for Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali. Young new comers are doing well, Fakhar Zaman and Fahim Ashraf has performed well in today's match. Once again good luck to Pakistan Team
Poorest performance to get into semi final even by Pakistan standards.
Sub standard players generally. Read below excellent link:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-champions-trophy-2017/content/story/1103175.html
CONGRATES TO PAKISTAN AND ALL PAKISTANI SUPPORTERS 237 always going to be tricky target once openers were removed, fakhar played out of his skin amazing and that's y i have been asking for young blood and pick anyone from streets of isb,lahore, karachi anyone will deliver, Pakistan is full of talents and fahim, shadab, fakhar, talat, saud, farhan there are soo many of them... sarfaraz i still do not understand what is azhar doing in the side we should be opening with babar azam and fakhar and hafeez 3, malik 4, safi 5 with haris at 6 will give us great cover in days like today haris with safi would have won it nice and easy he is not new to international arena and has won matches for Pakistan before he is our main man, play him, stokes, morgan, moin in the side meaning hafeez will play shadab i wish play as well however imad will be trusted again... one change drop azhar open with babar and play haris at no 6
@Rahul Kulkarni What happened to you and your 38 supporters Best Wishes? Gone with the wind.
Very well played.. Spirited fightback. Hope England has bad day in Cardiff and India beats Bangladesh. That will setup epic clash next Sunday.
@DDPJJP This time they make it. They took full advantage of Sri Lanka's poor fielding.
@Indiapower Now tell us who is in your opinion is the better side.
@Umesh Because their names are derived from SINHALI language and you don't have proficiency in that language
Congratulations!!
@Zakir hussain This is a one-dayer where ICC rankings and past records has no value. PAKISTAN TEAM''S unpredictability is known to one and all. They can loose a winning game or upset any major team any time.
Fakhar Zaman, good job!
Stay Cool Stay Focused
Stay away from Bookies And other Troubles
Cricket security team must keep the Bookies away from the Pakistan's new promising talent:
Hasan Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan and Faheem Aftab.
I am thoroughly disappointed at the way Pakistani team played. This was not a convincing win for Pakistan. They need huge improvements and power hitters in the middle. I think it is high time we make Azhar only a test player and relegate Hafeez to Test Matches too. Bring in Hamad Azam instead of Hafeez and Fawad Alam for Azhar. This is not the team that is going to beat India or England. Sadly, I have to admit that.
Hafeez and Azar ali should be left out from the squad. Instead a hungry youngster should be introduced. Haris sohail is a good middle order.
@Sab se pehle pakistan In fact Azhar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoeb Malik should make way for other youngsters. See how Hassan Ali, Fakhar Zaman, and Fahim Ashraf are changing the trend of our ON-DAY Cricket.
Congratulations Pakistan cricket team in reaching the semi finals. Good work! I just watched the highlights (not as detailed as I would have preferred) but gives me a good idea. Please go back to the white board and figure out what we need to work on. Here are my thoughts: (1) Please get rid of Hafeez, he is not performing as usual (can Aktar bowl instead of him?), (2) Faheem might be a better batsman than Imad - send him before Imad (assuming Imad will play), (3) we need to work on our fielding (no dropped catches please), (4) Do we have an opener besides Azhar Ali? and (5) Drop Imad and replace with Shadab. Senior players (with the exception of Sarfraz) have been very disappointing. And please don't bring Ahmad Shazad back. Bowling department did well, very impressed. And please don't be over confident. England is a strong contender and have the home advantage. Thank you for an exciting game today!!
So no cricket analyst is targeting Hafeez and Azhar Ali test match performances..
@malik Till they take away Champions Trophy all low quality accepted. :-)
congrats green hope to see you in Final
I hope Pakistan can keep up the momentum to beat England and get to the final. It is heartening to see 3 South Asian teams make it to the semis.
Well done boys. Now, beating England is not going to easy, though you can do it. Just get the dead wood out, and you are on top of the world. You know what I mean.
Well done Sarfraz, team and Pak, hope to meet you in the final Inshallah!
I would pick the following team in the following order if Pakistan is to have any chance 1. Fakhur Zaman 2. Faheem Ashraf 3. Safraz 4. Babar Azam 5. Haris Sohail 6. Malik 7. Hafeez 8. Shadab 9. Mohammed Amir 10. Hasan Ali 11. Ramees/Junaid
Imad and Junaid need to be left out. However, knowing Pakistan backroom they will do the opposite. The attitude should be to enjoy yourselves in the semi finals and dont expect to win. That way you will probably surprise yourself.
@AXH, it is not only about lack of English speaking ability. They can't even think clearly and say something meaningful. It is a shame that PCB does not teach them these things, shouldn't be difficult as it's the same 3 questions they have been asking for the last 100 years.
Congratulations to Pakistan and its team. A win is a win. Good for Sarfraz.
Going forward, Pakistan needs to analyze how convincing their victories were, and compare it with England's performances.
Even today, Pakistan was giving chances to Sri Lanka and they were just not accepting them! I believe England team is a few notches above Pakistan.
Enjoy today!
@makkeshwar adinath shivalingam This was not crushing!! Pakistan team should be happy to win the game and it would have been tight if three dropped catches were held. Mathews called his team's performance 'Pathetic' for a reason. Not taking much away from Pakistan team but they have a long road before they match top 4 teams. Its players need to understand the game sense and mechanics. What to do at what stage of game is what they fail to figure out.
I think SL are the heros. They dropped catches and missed few run outs. SL made sure, "Safaraz dhoka na dai".
Jokes apart, I can't understand why Hafeez is in the team. For the next matches, remove him, and get Shadab. Malik will do the off break. Shadab can also bat.
Too bad, the lowest ranked team has managed to crawl into semifinals. The format should be changed.
Hafeez should be out and his place need to go to Harris Sohail.
It will be most difficult game for Pakistan against England now..
Who says the team that plays better wins. Sometimes,team that plays less worse wins too. I miss the 15 years old team Pakistan..Congratulation Pakistan. All the best for the semi
@Ayesha exactly!
Sarfaraz and Amir VS. Sri Lanka and the rest of Pakistan XI
@Optimist Junaid took three important wickets, what are you talking about optimist, wake up first before you comment
The man of the match from my point of view was Aamir. He played a technically vey sound inning accordingly no to the need of the hour. Aamir has matured as a batsman and he should be brought at no 6.
Pakistan id not win as much as Sri Lanka lost it. Luck favored us this time but might not repeat. Buck up guys for semis as we cannot rely on luck all the time.
It was not a convincing win. Easy catches dropped,run-out chances missed and poor shots played,all these are the highlights of the match. Even a die hard fan of Pakistan couldn't believe how Pakistan won the match.
236 ─ well below the modern-day ODI 'par' total of 300 - when did this become the odi par total for pakistan? For a team that struggles to make 250 even in today's game, how soon has this become a par total? Are we living in illusional or delusional world. Lets wake up and smell the coffee and get to reality.
Not good play by pakistan
pak team can only do this easy match they made it nail bitting match but reaching semi final is achievement every one says SL bad fielding helped Pak this is how matches played its their SL mistake cant take away credit from Pak captain and amir
Regardless of the win. Pakistan needs atleast top 3 world class batsman who dont get caught out easily. If any 2 batsmen perform well without getting out early and one can remain longer and smash them till end would be a match winner. Ive put my theory to a test by analyising England, India and Australia. These teams can play this way as they have better experienced batsman than Pakistan. But theirs no question Pakistan is unpredictable team and out of nowhere they can suprisengly bat and create shockwaves. We have seen that every year round. But I have no complain about the bowling. Todays era is based on batting performance.
Amir was hero!
well played sufaraz, bad luck malinga.
@sk he is there as alrounder.you have his alternative?
In India vs Sri Lanka match , Sri Lanka won because they played well. In Pakistan vs Sri Lanka match , Pakistan won because Sri Lanka played bad.
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh & England in the champions Trophy semifinals.
This would have been a domestic tournament before 1947
So happy for Aamir. Should have been the best bowler in the world by now.
Both played like number 7 & 8 team...
Amir should have been Man of the match.
again heading towards a IND vs ENG final, england is no 1 favorites being unbeatable in the tournament
Englang,.India, Pakistan, Bangladesh in ICC Champions Trophy Semi final.. RE UNION OF BATCH 1947.
@Kannadiga yentha maatu.... Perera will be feeling terrible tonight, he dropped the Championship Trophy
So good to see three Asian teams in semi finals! best of luck Bang la Desh , India and Pakistan.
@Kannadiga Grow up man. Comment like a cricket fan not and Indian troll.
@Kannadiga India won against SA because SA played bad.Right!
It is not just Sarfraz the hero. In fact it was Amir 1st then Sarfraz. Sarfraz has thrown the match twice with reckless short. Lucky for him that simple catches were dropped by Sri Lanka.
Let be fair in our analysis. 1st credit goes Pakistani superb balling. Pakistan batting is shame and disgraceful. Hafeez, Azhar, Babar and Shoaib should be replaced.They have not performed at all. infact days are over for Hafeez, azhar and Shoaib. Bring new talent like fakhar and faheem for ODI and T20 they are natural stylish and stroke player. if Pakistan play with same team against England there is no chance for them to win unless England throw away the match like Sri Lanka did
@Optimist Ahzar, Hafeez , Malik and babar should be droped and new all rounder should be brought in Shadab can bowl but his batting not there yet
@Ahmed Well,they have reached in the SF with this depleted batting performance, you never know it might click in the next match. Pakistan has defeated this English team in the last ODI of the series played in their backyard.
Coongrats to Junaid, Amir and Sarfaraz for putting Pakistan to semifinal. Welldone and keep it up. Pakistan please look after the boys.
Please drop Azhar and play Sohail give him a chance !!!
@T J He is not an opener, let him play where he plays and please be positive. Has Dhoni ever opened for his team? The opening is a specialist's job,I don't think he feels comfortable himself opening the inning.
@krishnandu... good one that .... It is quite a re union of 1947 batch
@Optimist
What are you smoking dude? Junaid compare to Wahab is miles ahead and largely responsible for SRL's collapse today.
@Murali Let's see who stops PAKISTAN to lift the CT cup.
@Feroze Izzadeen Because of these Ifs and Buts Pak has lost many matches in the past.So,they have no meanings.
@Zak . Yes why not. If it is destined it will happen as the match against SL teaches us.
Pathetic fielding by Lankans was the reason for Pakistan's key to enter the Semi Finals as they dropped Sarfaraz couple of times and could not run out him.
Not to take anything away from Amir who batted sensibly and was the rightful candidate for Man of the match.
Gripping clash between the worst bowling line up in the competition verses the worst batting line up in the competition. At times it looked like both teams were determined to lose the match but that simply was not possible. Congrats to the Pakistani team !
I am happy that Pakistan won, but not happy with the way they played. There was nothing in the performance be proud of, rather it was the luck that we sailed to the Semis. SriLanka was not upto their mark, their fans must be very dissapointed with the performance.
@AXH "The same applies to catches dropped during Pakistan's game against India."
Yes but the first catch which Pakistan dropped of Yuvraj Singh was when India's score was already past 200. Pakistan did not even make 200 in that match. So even if this catch was taken it would probably have made little difference. Moreover India also dropped a few catches during the Pakistan innings but we still dismissed you for 164. Didn't we???
@Zak "Pakistan heading towards the champions cup. They will pick it up." I would support your statement, if not for India. We both know the record of india against Pakistan in ICC tournaments. 12-2 I believe, look it up.
Congratulation to pakistan. But this is not a comprehensive win. This time Sri Lanka did the same mistakes which pakistan did against India. Fielding otherwise Sri lanka will win this match.
Amir is an equal hero supporting Sarfraz beautifully!
@terrible victory speech by Sarfraz: Felt the same here. What I could figure out from his atrocious English that he's mighty thankful to the Almighty for giving him two lives. There's no shame in speaking in your mother tongue with any Indian or Pakistani commentator asking questions. Never heard Messi or Ronaldo speaking in English.
Sarfaraz wa the best and srilanka was not interested inld in champions trophy
Yesterday match is one of the best match for pakistan
Congrats Team Pakistan.. truly well deserved. I still dont get as to why Shoaib and hafeez are in the team. In fact, I found Shoaib taking unnecessary risks in running between the wickets and almost got Sarfraz out. Sarfraz, is a young captain and needs support, not deadwood like the above two. Get Harris in and Shadab in. Mohd Amir is awesome, as is Hassan Ali. Just a few rejigs and the lion heart, and I can see Pakistan beating England.. Well done Pakistan
we need to drop Hafeez and bring back Harris Sohail, drop Junaid bring back shadad and drop Azhar bring back Rumman Raees since most of these players never been tested with england and it will bring the element of surprise to england only chance we have to beat england when they are playing their top cricket now
Why can't we drop Hafeez and Azhar for good? Anyone please remind me of a single performance outside of UAE that has won us a match by them? Shoaib also need to consistently, else shown the door. When they stay , it even puts more pressure on rest of the batting! This is getting ridiculous!
Lucky Pakistan today. Everyone watching the game for last 15 years knows this that Hafeez doesn't have technique to play on bouncy/seaming tracks against quality bowling. Anyone remember South African tour? Why is this guy always in the team? Shoib Malik is only 50/50 but you have to play him if you drop Hafeez so there is another backup bowler. A case can be made to play Shadab in place of Imad Wasim.
The experiment with both debutante Faheem and Zaman proved successful and so has Shadab Khan. If Pakistan is to succeed against England, it will require a specialist spinner in Shadab Khan. Hafeez and Malik should be dropped or placed down the order to give stability should Pakistan loose wickets. The 300 plus score in one dayers is unsuitable for Azhar Ali, an introduction of Harris Sohail may prove a success. Pakistan in allowing the youngsters to play in a key game against an inform side will lay foundation for future Pakistani cricket.
After Indo-Pak game most Pakistanis had written off their team. But as an Indian, I had wished Pakistan to win against SA and predicted win against SL in my comments in Dawn. My man of the match was Mohd Amir who played like a seasoned batsman in a crunch situation whose innings should be shown on video by coach to top Pak batsmen to feel ashamed of themselves. After a solid start with less than 5 runs per over, the game could have been easily won with singles and not fours and sixes which was attempted foolishly by middle order batsmen and getting out cheaply. Despite these silly mistakes, my prediction is still in favour of Pakistan to win against England and play finals against India with same results as in the first game..
@J20 best ??? he just got lucky with 2 drop catches and dont know how many missed runout ,pak has below avg batsman , and average bowler. In this era of cricket pak dont stand any where . Any ways congrats.
Looks like everyone is selector..:-)
It was only becuz your captains catch was dropped, that you were able to celebrate the victory. But be aware!!! Winter is coming!!! The white death charged with Ben Stokes is upon you.
Sarfaraz lead from the Front...dont know what else people are expecting from him
@SHAHRYAR SHIRAZI I think you described it perfectly. Who played worse is the best way to describe the match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka
Srilanka gave away the semi final spot to pakistan with sloppy fielding after hard fought victory against India.The bottomline is same they were not prepared for pakistan, nobody thinks that pakistan will give a fight and scrubs them away and the pakistan team as its often called are unpredictable and sometimes wakes up to give a well deserved jolt or should I say slap in the face to those who take them so lightly.
congrats pakistan team. should strengthen their batting .
Not at all convincing..but a win at the end
Hoping to see pakistan again in final. Best of luck for match against England.
Congratulations!!! Hope to see IndVsPak finals
Please replace imad wasim. He is just over efficient with nil performance Shadab Khan is the best option. and please keep away so called professor from the team. Poor Played by the Pakistani team. Thanks to Srilanka for their poor fielding.
For next game Haris should replace Sohaib Malik. Haris can give bring variety in the middle order as he is a left hander and can also contribute with the ball.
My Man of the match is Mohammad Amir, who saved the day for Pak. Played like a champion, both with bat and ball. Amazing display of temperament when required, held his nerves, not even a single loose shot, cant stop praising this guy.
Love the Sri Lankan players' names. They sound really exotic.
It was a poor match. Both sides played poorly. Good that Pakistan could emerge as winner. It would be tough to get past England, but miracles do happen, and it would be great to have India Pakistan final.
@Optimist recipe to loose what has shadab done in champions trophy
Great effort by the Captain, after the set back loss to India.
Great responsible job by Sarfraz he is a great Captain in the making Inshahallah, Immediately after Champions Trophy Pakistan must drop Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam and Wahab Riaz, get new blood instead for the 2019 World Cup.
As I had written here earlier, this young team has all the ingredients to become a potential threat to all other quality teams and can convert to a champion side with a little more luck and fitness. This was in demonstration last night. Please bear with this team. Nothing can be more joyful than seeing Mohd. Amir, Hasan Ali, Junaid, Babar Azam, Fakhr etc are in full swing and doing their best to elevate the game to a new level. Best wishes Team Pakistan, March Ahead!
Well done, Thisara Perera.
actually mohammad amir is the man of the match. sarfraz got many chances.
What Hero....He gave two lolly-pop catches on such an easy pitch but Lankans couldn't take those simple chances......No Hero just Luck escape all i can say
Sarfarz was not the hero in this match by any cricketing sense
Congratulations to Pakistan. You are predictably unpredictable. Pakistan bowlers have done it.The batsmen have to raise up to occasion against England.Good luck.
Sarfraz did try to get out several times, he did not deserve Man of the match award, should have gone to Amir for his bowling and batting
Its's a Game of flukes . Well done anyways. England will be a difficult team for sure.
Just shows that Sri Lankas sole victory against India was a grand fluke. They could have easily chase 350 on that flat surface that day but their bowling is a disgrace. To let a weak batting side like Pakistan win after getting their top order no less shows that the Sri Lankan bowling has long way to go. Good luck to Pakistan against the British and they sure gonna need it!
Sloppy play by Pakistan, but nevertheless a good win
This match was club level cricket. Pakistan does not have a chance against top level teams. The Sri Lankan fielding and bowling was pathetic..
M Hafeez, Babar and Imad Waseem should be replaced because of dismal performances, Sarfaraz has yet again proved that he is match winner. Sarfaraz should use Urdu as it really make no sense when you are not aware of English language and urge people to make fun of you.
They should play Shadad over Hafeez & try another Batsman over Azhar, as Hafeez performance with bat & ball is not good at all. Shadad will definitely a surprise element for England & he can do power hitting as well.
Title should be "Lucky Sarfraz made Pakistan advance into Champions Trophy semi-final"
To all the trolls who complain that Pakistan only won because Srilanka played bad...India also only won because SQ played really bad....lost 8 wickets for 50 runs mostly poor run outs.
Cricket is all about "fight till last ball,Last Wicket,This match had everything! What a fight by Sarfaraz, Amir and Pakistan team in-spite of the dropped catches,poor fielding,bad shot selections,panic under pressure.Congratulations to Pakistan Cricket team on reaching the Semi-Final.Best of Luck for rest of the matches..
The body language of Sri Lankan bowlers & fielders clearly shows that they are not interested to win this match I think there is some fishy in this match
Kudos to Sarfaraz to stay focused at such a pressure, and helped the other side to stay longer on the wickets. A lesson to be learned by all team batsmen. Great bowling by young bowlers, and help batting too. Wish the best against England team,
Quality wise Its been a dissaponting CT this year. UK weather isnt conducive to gameplay. Rain has played a part in almost every result, main reason for early exist of Australia..arguably even SA.
Dear Pakistan Cricket fans. Please launch a public campaign to remove dead wood like Mohd Hafeez from your team, It seems PCB does not have the courage and acumen to show him the door when it is needed the most.
Also send across a strong signal to Azhar Ali to improve his skills as ODI batsman, Just like Amla did, like Dravid did. He cannot be playing for the opponents and borrow their pressure onto his own side.
A passionate Cricket fan from Kashmir (J&K)
England, India,Pakistan and Bangladesh in Semi-Finals. What a Re-union of the 1947 batch !
It is now about time to bid farewell to the certain parasitic old batsmen of Pakistani cricket team. These batsmen have exposed themselves in the last match.
Very funny indeed; Every one are expecting Ind v/s Pak or Ind v/s Eng for finals. Why are we all taking Bangladesh so lightly? One never knows.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka: Both were playing to loose and it was a proper battle between 7&8 ranked teams.
@Optimist leave Junaid Khan out of semi final? which match were you watching yesterday buddy? Can't believe we still have doubters for him
When can we read apologies from those who abused PCB and the team?
Now play Semi Final without any fear, hope will win, otherwise reaching in top 4 is also an achievement, leaving behind Kangroos, Kiwis, S.Africans and Srilankans. Keep it up!
Poor show by veterans like Shoaib Malik and Professor Hafeez.Pakistan Must must look now for their replacements.Skipper to upgrade in batting order so that he may be more fruitful for his side.
@Leo Don't worry they will take Champions Trophy by fluke too and you will keep on commenting using the term Fluke.Who cares till they keep on winning!
Well done Pakistan. Sarfraz has played with all responsibilities of a captain and with great composure. He is the true hero of yesterday's match.
I have failed to understand the playing methods of Shoaib Malik,and Hafeez, Why they under perform in every crucial game, please get rid of these two liabilities, I am sorry to say but there are many suspicious Cricketers in our team, how come they perform well in one game and cannot perform after two days, on the other hand attitude of few in the field is very lethargic.
Great contest - Club level cricket at its riveting best!!! On a serious note, well done Pak and Sarfaraz for keeping your composure while the rest of the Pak team & SL were vying to outdo each other for the Sloppiest play of the day award! Good chance for Pak to beat Eng with their new found confidence & belief - however the skill deficit and mental agility (or the lack of it) might hold them back. But that's a long term solve for the players, team management & PCB to deal with. For now enjoy the confidence that's been discovered!
An India - Pak final would be absolutely mouth watering! Am I hoping for too much, too soon?? You never know.
Cheerios guys!!
Well played Pakistan....grt run chase by captain sarfaraz at crucial time...and all the best for semis....coz we Indians love to beat you in finals
Shadab inplace of Hafeez, Malik at no 4(also use him for few overs to compansate for Hafeez) and new guy faheem before Imad at no6. You got a serious chance. Think positive, think brave
Captain Sarfaraz officially proved that Muslims are cheaters by appealing for a catch which he knew he had dropped! Display of true pakistani character and foolishness.
Wow! SL snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. They were determined to go home.
Well done team Pakistan. The boys, however have to play with patience and technique to overcome England team. All the best.
@Optimist Junaid has provided vital breakthrough in botjjthe matches, what kind of silly logic you have to replace him.
@SAchin Well he still can't beat Dhoni when it's come to cheating remember trent bridge test 2007 where he claimed to take the catch when the ball clearly bounced on the ground before reaching to his gloves he looked really fool when the big screen declared KP not out atleast sarfaraz didn't claim he took the catch he was not sure and asked the umpire to review
Well atleast it was a thriller unlike India vs Sri Lanka one sided match i mean how can you lose to club level cricket team( as Indian fans call them) it was very humiliating for you guys
First time China has advanced to ICC semi Finals... :)
Atleast we won against the same club level team who murdered Indian bowlers and chased down the target eith ease
Pakistan has a good cricket team But their one failure can upset people to such an extent as if they are caught in a calamity. Do not be that emotional. Give space and time to team to perform. People always sitting on their throats for only winning option proves too much for the team. All the best to the team
@Last Word With the same results as in previous 72 games
Frankly speaking, have seen batting of Sarafraj. He did not played, only his luck played. Truly, he never impressed. It was a day of Sarafraj only.
Pak vs England will be interesting to watch. Best of luck both teams!
@Junaid Frnd to claim a catch 1st u need to catch it, which is not possible with ur team
@PAMNANI-INDIA respectfully I beg to differ. He may have hit some bad shots but he played boldly yet displaying a great sense of responsibility. And as they say, 'luck favors the brave'
@rana "actually mohammad amir is the man of the match. sarfraz got many chances." We know, it is hard to swallow the bitter Sarfraz pill. Come on folks have some patience, you'll have your Akmals back soon. One bad performance and he'll be history like Fawad etc.
congrats, pakistan. you managed to huff and puff past the finishing line. fortunately, the opponent was sri lanka. had it been any one of the other teams, you would not have been so lucky to win this match.
you need to tighten up in your next match against england.
@Junaid Pakistan and bangladesh are the only 2 teams who are not capable of defeating India this CT but somehow finds overwhelming satisfaction when some other team beats us ,that too just once .End result -India always gets more than 300 runs and twice we bowled out the opposition .Also add that Bangladesh practice match to this list. But Bangladesh came back really well with little help of rain gods and amazing batting performance by their team.Whereas Pakistan is yet to score a 250 runs ,everytime rain, toss, bad fielding of the opposition, luck worked in their favour. Even for making 200 plus you guys lose 7 wks. Wow!
@MALIK,USA- England
@PAMNANI-INDIA -India were lucky to win against SA, ranked #1 team in the world.
@J. Gamble Really? Then how do you define Pakistan victory over Sri Lanka? Divine intervention?
Why Pakistan's best batsman bats at number 6 ?
Both teams tried hard to lose but ultimately Sri Lanka succeeded !! Better team won.
Wow. If India beats Bangladesh - and Bangladesh is much better than they used to be, so it is not a given, although still likely - then a India vs. Pakistan game will be awesome.
I hope the cricket team can influence their country men and women of tolerance towards others and clean their country.
@Thought Any comment on today's semi final between England and Pakistan.
@Zakir hussain 300+ runs are only possible when the wicket is flat with no assistance to bowlers. When ever there is some help for seam bowlers or spin bowlers, you cannot expect any team to score 300 or more. In today's England vs Pakistan conditions were favorable for medium fast bowlers in the morning session and Pakistani seamers exploited the conditions to their maximum advantage.
@B.Patel. USA On the basis of today's performance.
@Kuladeep Patil Your dream has become a REALITY. Good Luck for both teams
Once again, as in 1947, England quit leaving India/Pak/Bdesh to fight among themselves...