Key events
28th over: England 164-3 (Root 33, Curran 22) It looks like Pakistan are trying to use up as many overs as spin as possible before the dew becomes a factor. Saim is reverse swept for two by Root in an over that costs five.
England need 139 from 132 balls.
27th over: England 159-3 (Root 30, Curran 20) Another tidy over from Arafat, who has good figures of 5-0-19-2 to go with his 58-ball 59 earlier in the day.
26th over: England 156-3 (Root 30, Curran 17) A stinker of a delivery from Saim is pulled mightily over midwicket for six by Curran. That’s a much needed boundary, England’s first since the 18th over. Saim will be frustrated – he’s been pretty accurate, but that was begging to be spanked.
On Sky Sports, Urooj Mumtaz thinks the dew should start to take effect in the next 20 or 30 minutes. That usually makes batting under lights much easier.
25th over: England 147-3 (Root 28, Curran 8) Curran tries to cut the impressive Arafat and is beaten. He’s made a scratchy start, certainly in comparison to Root, but we know he is very good at catching up in white-ball cricket.
Three from the over. Pakistan have turned the screw since the bonus wicket of Banton.
24th over: England 144-3 (Root 28, Curran 7) For the second consecutive over, Saim Ayub concedes only four singles. He’s doing a useful job with his occasional offspin, eating up overs and gently pushing up the required rate. It’s now 6.11, or 159 runs from 156 balls.
23rd over: England 140-3 (Root 26, Curran 5) Root reverse sweeps Arafat deftly for three. England’s last boundary was in the 18th over but that shouldn’t trouble Root and Curran at this stage. Root has 26 from 22 balls, Curran 5 from 10.
“Using the OBO to follow while at work, writes Michael Duggan. “But until Brook was out it seemed a routine chase. Spin makes it more interesting – as it always does.”
Amen to that. And it’s not even mystery spin.
22nd over: England 135-3 (Root 22, Curran 4) Low-risk cricket from Root and Curran, who take two singles apiece from Saim’s fifth over. England can’t afford to lose another quick wicket; conversely, Pakistan must be tempted to bring back one of their quick bowlers at this end.
“Afternoon Rob, afternoon everyone,” wrote Eddy Nason about 10 minutes ago. “Root and Brook at the crease, and I should feel comfortable in two of the worlds best batters occupying the crease for England, but this is Pakistan – it all feels like a trap…”
Eddy has just followed up: “So I guess it was a quickfire trap.”
21st over: England 131-3 (Root 20, Curran 2) Sam Curran has been promoted to No5, mainly to give England a left/right combination. He’s also a good man to have around in a mini-crisis.
WICKET! England 128-3 (Brook b Arafat 5)
Brook is bowled by a beauty! Arafat has changed the mood of the match by striking twice in his first two overs. Brook misread the length and was back when he should have been forward. But it was a superb delivery from around the wicket that straightened sharply to hit the top of off and middle. There’s a game on here all right.
20th over: England 125-2 (Root 18, Brook 5) England milk Saim for six, none in boundaries. The required rate isn’t an issue so they can afford to play themselves in.
Temba Bavuma is still going strong in Gqeberha, where South Africa have recovered from 110 for 6 to reach 340 for 7.
19th over: England 121-2 (Root 16, Brook 1) The new batter is Harry Brook, who averages about 700 in Pakistan.
WICKET! England 120-2 (Banton c Afridi b Arafat 57)
The left-arm spinner Arafat Minhas strikes third ball! Banton slugs a short ball straight to midwicket and leans on his bat in disbelief. It was a smart catch from Afridi, but Banton knows he should have hit the ball either straight down or over the top. Eventually he drags himself from the field, all the while lamenting the runs he has left out there. Banton made 57 from 53 balls and, in the parlance of 2009, looked the goods.
18th over: England 117-1 (Banton 55, Root 15) Root glides Saim for four – a trademark shot, beautifully played. England score off every delivery, with 10 coming from the over. They’re in a terrific position here, though it’s worth remembering that they were 143 for 0 chasing 326 v Sri Lanka and lost.
17th over: England 107-1 (Banton 51, Root 9) The required rate is loitering around a run a ball, which means Root can play at his natural tempo. That includes helping himself to a boundary when Rauf bowls a short ball on the hip. Nice shot, mind, placed deliberately fine to beat the man on the boundary.
Things can change quickly, especially when these two play each other, but right now England are cruising.
Fifty for Tom Banton!
16th over: England 101-1 (Banton 50, Root 4) Banton cuts Ayub for two to reach another confident fifty: 46 balls, five fours, two sixes. Top Bantz indeed.
England need 202 from 34 overs.
15th over: England 96-1 (Banton 48, Root 1) Banton moves closer to another fifty with a gorgeous stroke, an on-drive for four off Rauf. He was 6 not out from 16 balls; he’s now 48 from 43.
“Whisper it, Rob, but is Tom Banton the opener we’ve been looking for all along for ODI cricket?” says Guy Hornsby “I know he’s been around for ever, but at 27 he appears to be in his cricketing prime. It’s easy to forget he was barely into his twenties when he debuted in white-ball cricket, but it feels so triumphant when a player struggles early on then comes back mid-career. A small sample size, even more so up top, but averaging 42 at a strike rate north of 100 in 50-over cricket is exciting, even if it’s only me.”
Permission to be really boring and say it’s too early to judge? I like the way he complements Duckett, mind, and he plays some belting strokes. I’m also with you on the charm of players excelling in their second career. Damien Martyn – who missed six years of Test cricket because of one poor shot – is one of my favourite examples.
WICKET! England 91-1 (Duckett c Fakhar b Rauf 43)
Time after time, Haris Rauf makes something happen. He has made the breakthrough with a good bouncer that Duckett top-edged straight to Fakhar Zaman at fine leg. A frustrated Duckett goes for a breezy 45.
14th over: England 88-0 (Banton 43, Duckett 43) Saim Ayub is the first spinner into the attack. Ben Duckett is having a reasonably animated chat with the umpires about something; what, I know not.
No turn for Ayub but he starts economically: three dot balls, two singles, one two.
Mid-match reading
13th over: England 84-0 (Banton 42, Duckett 40) England planned to invest in an opening partnership of Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell. Then Bethell got injured, Tom Banton moved up the order and now all bets are off. It’s a small sample size – three and a bit games – but as an opener Banton is averaging 83 and has a strike rate of 117.
Banton drives a pair of twos off Rauf, who responds with a sharp bumper that Banton avoids.
12th over: England 80-0 (Banton 38, Duckett 40) Two more boundaries to Duckett off Faheem. The first was a freebie, a little touch to fine leg, but the second was superbly timed through backward square.
Under Eoin Morgan, England chased 300+ to win an ODI on 11 occasions, but it has happened only once since 2021. This batting line-up looks custom-designed for such targets, at least on a good day. But they fluffed their lines against Sri Lanka last month – after an even better start – so they’ll be keen to get the job done here.
11th over: England 70-0 (Banton 37, Duckett 31) Haris Rauf also comes into the attack. The cricket is rarely dull when he is bowling, and he’s as likely as anyone to take the wicket(s) Pakistan need. Duckett plays a defensive stroke that bounces into the ground and over the stumps; he turned round nervously before realising it wasn’t going to disturb his furniture.
Four singles and a wide from Rauf’s first over.
10th over: England 65-0 (Banton 35, Duckett 29) Faheem Ashraf, a more controlled right-arm seamer, comes on for Naseem Shah. He starts with five dot balls, only to err in line and length with the sixth. Duckett belabours a cut for four.
“Moving on to less contentious ground, do you subscribe to the view that ODI tactics are changing in the last year or so with the advent of swapping back to a single white ball after the 34 over mark?” asks Lord Baron, sorry Brian Withington. “Apparently only Ireland, India and England have maintained run rates in the latter stages over the relevant period, which have seen marked increases in reverse swing. I am not sure the number of games played under new conditions yet meets the requirements of statistical significance yet, so your thoughts would be even more valuable than usual, he insinuated winningly.”
Arf. I haven’t buried myself in the numbers – that’s in the diary for Friday evening – but from what I’ve seen it’s been a triumph. Don’t take my word for it: Mike Atherton, whose thoughts really are valuable, has beenn full of praise for it on the Sky Sports podcast.
9th over: England 61-0 (Banton 35, Duckett 25) Duckett clips Shaheen through midwicket for four, then batters another boundary through the covers. All of a sudden, England’s openers are rampant: they’ve scored 47 from the last five overs.
8th over: England 52-0 (Banton 35, Duckett 16) Banton drives Naseem emphatically for four, then top-edges a hook over fine leg for six. It was a pretty safe shot with the fielder much wider. Banton completes a superb over by carting Naseem over midwicket for a big six. That also brings up the fifty partnership at more than a run a ball.
Harry Brook’s England pride themselves on reading conditions. They’ve done that excellently so far – it can be tough to bat in the twilight zone, so they started cautiously, but now they are tucking in. They scored 14 from the first four overs and 38 from the next four.
“Oh Rob,” writes Brian Withington. “Moving from PC to Mac surely like going from Ilford 2nds to a World XI, as Graham Gooch might have put it?”
And to think I had you down as a man of the people, Withington.
7th over: England 34-0 (Banton 17, Duckett 16) Nasser Hussain, commentating on Sky, reckons the match is 55:45 in Pakistan’s favour. I’m not so sure, and I know far more about half-arsed guessing cricket than Nasser.
Banton plays his best shot of the innings so far, clipped Afridi gracefully through midwicket for four. Later in the over – and you might want to sit down before you read this – Ben Duckett leaves successive deliveries outside off stump. In an ODI. On a cricket field.
6th over: England 29-0 (Banton 12, Duckett 16) After almost dragging Naseem onto the stumps, Duckett leathers a wide ball through extra cover for four. That’s a cracking shot, and you’d expect England to be able to hit through the line with increasing confidence when the new balls stop swinging.
Duckett gets four more to fine leg with the aid of a misfield.
5th over: England 21-0 (Banton 12, Duckett 8) It’s been a slow start to the innings – both on the field and in the office. I usually work on a PC at home so am readjusting to a Mac, the liveblogger’s equivalent of switching from red-ball to white-ball cricket.
Afridi is angling most of his deliveries across Banton, who is beaten on the drive. “Six from 16 balls, Banton’s just starting to get fidgety,” says Nasser Hussain on commentary. Banton cloths a pull for two, then helps a poor ball round the corner for four. Twelve from 18 balls looks a whole lot better.
4th over: England 14-0 (Banton 6, Duckett 7) Duckett chases a very wide delivery from Naseem and bottom-edges it past the keeper for his first boundary. Later in the over he chips on the bounce to the substitute Razaullah at mid-on. The mere mention of his name has elicited a smile. The streets won’t forget, and nor will the reclusive old farts like me.
“Why don’t England pay more attention to their over-rate?” asks John Starbuck. “If it’s not just down to lengthy run-ups, it must be the field settings which use up the time, so you’d expect bowlers to let the captain know what fields they want per batter and the captain to allow them to adjust it themselves. A well-drilled side ought to know what the signals are, which positions they are best in, and stop faffing about.”
I’m not certain but I think their over-rates have generally been very good under Harry Brook. I know Ben Stokes didn’t give a flying one about over-rates, but I can forgive him for that. I’d forgive that man for almost anything.
3rd over: England 9-0 (Banton 6, Duckett 2) There’s a bit of swing for Afridi. Nothing dramatic, though; I’d say it’s about 2.7 on the clumsily named BobMassieLord’s1972ometer.
Duckett misses out on a low full toss, clipping it for a single. Banton is beaten, chasing a wide one, and defends a good inswinging yorker. England have started fairly cautiously – they know batting should get easier as the innings progresses.
2nd over: England 8-0 (Banton 6, Duckett 1) The pacy Naseem Shah shares the new ball. His speed is around 88mph, with some decent carry, but Banton stands tall to thrash the first boundary through the off side.
“Although I pity the commentators having to read out adverts,” says Andrew Goudie, “I’m enjoying the brand misalignment of Mark Butcher recommending shiny hair shampoo.”
I find your email triggering, Andrew. (I don’t, but it did remind me that Sanath Jayasuriya – a member of the bald community at a young age – once dislocated his shoulder when he slipped while reaching for the shampoo.)
