Pakistan thrashed England by eight wickets with 12.5 overs to spare at Sophia Gardens on Wednesday to reach the final of the Champions Trophy.
Openers Azhar Ali (76) and Fakhar Zaman (57) made it a comfortable chase from the start as Pakistan reached 215-2 in 37.1 overs in reply to England's unimpressive 211 all out with one ball left.
“Credit goes to the bowlers and the batters who finished it very well,” said Sarfraz at the presentation ceremony.
England's Jonny Bairstow throws the ball while Pakistan bat during the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final.─Reuters
Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez, right, celebrate victory as they leave the pitch.— AP
Mohammad Hafeez celebrates after Pakistan win the semi-final in Cardiff on June 14.─AFP
Hafeez and Babar Azam congratulate each other after winning the match.─Reuters
Junaid Khan, right, celebrates taking the wicket of Jos Buttler.─AP
Rumman Raees (L) smiles at Alex Hales after he escapes an LBW decision.─AFP
Shadab Khan (L) jumps in jubilation after taking the wicket of Joe Root (unseen) for 46 runs.─AFP
England's Jake Ball reacts as Pakistani batsmen gave them a tough time on the field.─Reuters
Hasan Ali celebrates after dismissing Eoin Morgan for 33 runs.─AFP
Mark Wood reacts as England's bowling fails to deter the Pakistani side from reaching their target of 212 runs.─Reuters
Comments (92) Closed
Well done Team Pakistan!!!
Congratulation Pakistan Ramjan Mubarak
I am just happy and I am just proud. The way English was thrashed ... it was a delight.
Well done greens.
Welldone unperdictable wish them in final trophey
Congratulations Pakistan. At the start of the tournament Ramiz bhai suggested an Ind V Pak final. Lets hope that happens
Well done guys. I had no expectations from you guys. But the new comers have done a fantastic job. Irrespective of whether you win CT final or not, but you have done very well to reach final. Hope you keep playing like this.
Congratulations. Hope we will meet on Sunday. And let the better team wins the match.
Congrats green shirts. Well played
Xclnt job done by our boys. Long live Pakistan.
Just keep up the tempo for just one more game.
Congratulations, MashaAllah
Congratulations team Pakistan Will see u in the finals All the best
wow!
Awesome performance by the bowlers, good captaincy by Sarfaraz and excellent stroke-playing by Fakhar Zaman. I think the best thing that happened to India was losing to Sri Lanka as it made them realize if there was any complacency, in 50-overs cricket anyone can upset anyone and they will be wary of Bangladesh and most probably Pakistan in Final. Pakistan needs to be prepared to bat first as their strategy seems to be bowl first, restrict the batsmen to a lower total and then their batsmen can bat without pressure. Fakhar is an amazing find as he plays like a twenty20 player at the top of the order giving a much needed boost to run-rate and morale for the remaining players and the opposition will be planning to get him out cheaply. The strategy of bowling first to India hasn't seemed to work yet as India plays much more cautiously in the beginning that other teams. Being an Indian my best wishes will always be for India but I really hope to see a competitive final. Well done Pakistan.
Well done Pakistan, Pakistan Zindabad
First of all congrats on knocking off English team.Lets hope the final is an all greens affair .It would be a delight.
Congratulation Pakistan Team. Let the best Cricker be selected by The Selction team Rather than because he is from my Cha-Cha, Mamma correption as it is in Politics now a days. M. A. Naz, UK near London Airport, Heathrow.
An all out effort by Pakistan team.
Alhamdolillah.......
@Indian true friend of beloved Pakistan. If we meet on Sunday lets hope it is in the spirit of good sportsmanship and fair play and may the better team prevail.
Great work...India will meet you in Final..Good luck
Thank you so much to Indian fans to congratulate Pakistan.Hopefully see you in final.All the best to Indian team with BD game.
Hope consistency in performance prevail. Full control of game is key to soft win. Revenge from arch rival much needed though!
Great Job!
Why India in Final? Hoping Bangladesh will thrash them like we thrashed England.
And then Pakistan will win the Championship!!! Happy Eid Mubarak!
@babar saeed/cANADA Indians always wants Pakistan to play well as Pakistan has produced great players like Wasim Akram, Imran Khan in the past who have changed the direction of International Cricket. I believe one of the reasons India ha produced prolific batsmen is to counter amazing bowlers from Australia, Pakistan or West Indies. There might be disagreement in playing bilateral series due to on-going border disputes but that does not mean India does not want to see Pakistan play well on International level. I personally know a lot of guys and there are millions of fans of Wasim Akram in India who love his inswingers. Even though Wahab Riaz has not played as well in recent times, in the 2015 world cup he created many Indian fans due to his fiery spell to Shane Watson. A strong Pakistan team is important for world cricket and we wish you all the best and hope to have an awesome game in the final.
Congratulations Pakistan.
What a great knock by team green. They have outplayed and thrashed England like a boss. Best wishes for Pakistan team. Every word unpredictable is not as much unpredictable as Pakistan. Totally stunned the nation by their outlandish performance. I didn't see that coming. However, expecting the unexpected things is the best feeling ever.
I believe Bangladesh will give a touch time to team blue. May the best team prevail.
I expected the bowlers to do well and restrict England but the revelation was the opening stand which took all the air out of any English fightback. Excellent captaincy by Sarfraz followed by some calm batting which was a u-turn from the chaotic batting against SL a few days ago. Let's hope Pakistan can remain as calm for the final at the Oval.
Hoping to meet India in final but cricket is a funny game not played on paper - just ask England.
Well done Green Shirts !!! This is how to win a match.
For the final we will have to put up a similar performance especially in batting.
@Mallesh deshmukh Thanks bro. You have wonderful greetings also.
finally a come back
Well played Pakistan hope we meet in finals.
Very well played Team Pakistan..It was a delight to see the British getting thrashed on their own soil by our brotherly neighbour..
Well done Pakistan and congratulations to Sarfaraz for leading the team wisely
Very well done team Pakistan. It was a delight to watch the British being thrashed on their own soil by our brotherly neighbour... Excellent performance in all the 3 sections of the game.
Well done Pakistan..
@Baqar from california HAHAHAHA. Good one!! What if Bangladesh thrash Pakistan? Ouch!! That would hurt a lot more than being decimated by the Indians!!!
I am a Pakistan supporter, but not retarded.
@fog Better team is India. On that day, may be Pakistan
There is plenty of honour in cricket championship. Let's share it around. I hope Bangladesh wins the final. They have come up to this level in a very short time. Bangladesh, Bangladesh, Bangladesh.
Today's resounding victory brought back sweet memories of the final of the 1992 World Cup when Pakistan handed the odds on favorites, England, a stunning defeat in Australia.
This cannot be good for the JIT. It will draw people's attention away from it.
Great to see a subcontinent team thrashing ENGLAND in their own backyard. Congratulations!
@Indian true friend of beloved pakistan Thanks
@fog well said
One country is split into 3 and all three are in semifinals.(India, Pakistan, Bangladesh) The culprit who split us into 3 is also in the semifinals.(England)
This is the true beauty of Pakistan cricket. Well done and God bless for the rest of the tournament.
Well done green shirts. Thanks to all cricket fans especially Indian friends for appreciating a great game played by better side.
Bravo Green Team, go win the final now. Both India and Bangladesh are nervous now.
@Manoj , Don't under estimate Bangladesh. You never know.
As a Pakistani, delighted beyond belief. Tomorrow I will root for India. Primarily, because of Bangladesh's rude attitude towards PCB. The #6 ranking seems to have gotten to their head and they are beginning to strut like a peacock. That strut needs to be turned into a duck like waddle. Secondly, India-Pak final is an all time mega event, and this time it will be a much more fair game, with both sides having played " a warm up " match last week . And if we lose again in a close contest,I will be disappointed but no harm in losing to an elder brother. Sibling rivalry is healthy and leads to a close bond.My sincere wish that one day India and Pakistan will form a European Union like association with open borders and live in peace.
South Asian all in control now just imagine what happens when we come together in brotherhood. Sound like a super of over 1.6 billion people, a force to be reckon with. Long live our people of the Indus Valley. May love win in our hearts for all us family.
@Indian true friend of beloved pakistan Thanks
Well done team Pakistan !
Great moment, congratulations to the team for a well deserved victory.
I am really surprised!!
Congratulations....
I just cannot wait for India-Pakistan final............
The team which cannot play in their own country has brought smiles to people of Pakistan. Thank you all, stay like a team and continue playing like a team. Take some well deserving rest and give you best shot in the final. All the best from Chacha.
Pakistan's form is the third most clueless thing in my world. The first being my girlfriend's mood and the second the duckworth Lewis method.
Welcome back Pakistan
Congratulations Pakistan Team You made us upmost happy.
Bangladesh will be more dangerous than India in Final. Both the teams stand equal chance to reach the final. Good wishes for both the teams
Good job Pakistan! Well played. I want to see you guys come up!
Respect and love from Indian
Pakistan played superb !! Great win !!! Congratulations!!!
Now the trophy will be retained by Asian Country. That's great
Well done team Pakistan & best of luck for the finals ...
very happy to see Pakistan won the match .more awesome if india Vs Pakistan in final and Pak win the match.............seems bit doubt full but Inshallah Pakistan will win the match
I saw the match. Pakistan well played with bat and ball!
India is exited to meet you in finals!
Pakistani team handed down a crushing defeat to the English team. England was no match to the Pakistani bowling as well as batting. The result at Cardiff (Pakistan win) reminds me of Pakistan's first England tour just a few years after the partition. The English newspapers dubbed Pakistani team as 'Babes of Cricket'. Pakistan won at Oval and the same newspapers headlined 'England Fazled Out'. Today, again they were the favorites and Pakistan were the underdogs but they repeated their performance. That's great. Congrats to all.
WELL DONE .....PAKISTAN..... TARIQ
I love to see happy faces of Pakistani's. Although I left Pakistan 35 years a go to serve as a Prof at USA, I still love the high intensity emotions of Pakistani's. I want to see smiles on all citizens of Pakistan. May our governing politicians make the genuine effort to put smiles on the faces of the poor and the neglected people of Pakistan.
Mubarak to young players ---keep it and be responsible for next important match ---If you will disappoint peoples, then this whole team will lost its crediability ----
@Sambuddha basu ..."brotherly neighbor"...? Get yourself admitted in an asylum or leave India...
The unpredictable team of all time finally in CT17 final. Hope we will see a amazing final in between Pak vs India. Love green shirt Love Sarfraz.....mr captain
@Amit don't bring your venom into cricket.We appreciate good cricket and happy that sub continental teams are on top.seema guha
Well Played Pakistan! See you in the finals !!
It was a completely one sided match y'day! Pakistan was expected to bowl well, they were not expected to bat so well!! Congratulations to Pak young team. You threw massive upset in this tournament.
@Baqar from california have you forgot humilating defeat ...do u scare of ind team
Great job done Team Pakistan.
The difference I am noticing in this Pakistan team is these are leaner and fitter players.
Congratulations Pakistan
Wow! Really happy for My green team but it will be a family feud if Bangladesh make it to the finals as I'm Alhamdulillah happily married to an English Bengali
@Dev Thank you Dev.
good one
Awesome Green.
@Rizwan Hamid- USA your comment made me emotional; but the ruling establishments in both the countries will never let us unite. Thanks a lot for your honest opinion.
@babar saeed/cANADA
well done pak - i have seen after a long years - pak played very well in ICC match. - Though i am indian fan - but yesterday i was supporing to Pak wholeheartedly - eventually won it - apparentlyi was knew it - Pak gonna meet India in final.
Congrats, well played Pakistan. It was a delight to see the performance of your bowlers although I expected Pakistan to make a heavy weather of chasing a sub par total as they did against Sri Lanka. But your batting was also good. I love Fakhar Zaman's attitude and approach towards batting, but where is Imran Nazir? He and Fakhar would have made a potent opening pair. Happy to see Asian teams doing well in England and Pakistan thrashing the overconfident England.
it was Brilliant and fabulous everything fell in place, everything was great, everything happened for a reason .. RAMADAN Mubarak to all , mashaAllah subhanAllah Alhamdolillah this was great win, now we wait today who wins
Well done green-shirts. Keep it up and hang on tough. May God Almighty bless you all and grant you more successes during the on-going Holy month of Ramadhan-ul-Mubarak 1438 A.H. Aameen, Tsum Aameen.