England registered an impressive 84-run victory over the hosts © Getty Images
Following an impressive three-wicket haul each from Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, England beat Pakistan impressively by 84 runs in the fourth and final One-Day International (ODI) at the Dubai Sports Complex on Friday. Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik were the top scorers for Pakistan with an innings of 51 and 52, respectively. Earlier, England skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bat first as England posted a mammoth total of 355, courtesy of twin blistering centuries from Jason Roy (102) and Jos Buttler (116), with Pakistan’s Mohammad Irfan and Azhar Ali claiming a couple of wickets each. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs England 2015, 4th ODI at Dubai
Pakistan began the chase on a promising note, but wasn’t strong enough as opener Ahmed Shehzad was dismissed for mere 13 in the seventh over at the score of 45. With just 19 added to the total, it was the other opener Azhar Ali, who fell for 44 in the ninth over. However, it was the pair of Mohammad Hafeez and Babar Alam, that put up a healthy 65-run stand for the third wicket, before Hafeez was unfortunately run out for 37 at the score of 129. LIVE CRICKET UPDATES: Pakistan vs England 2015, 4th ODI at Dubai
It was followed by a 47-run stand between Azam and Shoaib Malik, but in the 26th over, it was Azam to depart just after scoring his half-century. Mohammad Rizwan too departed for a cheap session of 11 runs, and soon to follow him was Shoaib Malik, right after scoring his half-century, at the score of 228.
Although Sararaz ahmed and Anwar Ali played a moderate innings of 24 each, the continuous tumbling of wickets followed by lack of even partnerships ultimate saw Pakistan innings get folded for 271, as England registered an impressive 84-run victory over the hosts. Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid claimed three wickets each, as they were the star performers in England’s bowling department.
Brief scores:
England 355/ for 5 in 50 Overs (Jason Roy 102, Jos buttler 116*; Azhar Ali 2 for 26, Mohammad Irfan 2 for 64) beat Pakistan 271 in 40.4 Overs (Babar Azam 51, Shoaib Malik 52; Moeen Ali 3 for 53; Adil Rashid 3 for 78) by 84 runs.
(Ayush Gupta is a reporter at CricketCountry. A passionate supporter of Manchester United, he idolises Roger Federer and is also a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) maniac. He can be followed on Twitter @Ayush24x7)