A 10-year-old girl had perched herself in the front row of the upper tier of the Club House here clutching on to a poster of Shaheen Shah Afridi. Visibly downcast after the TV cameras eluded her, she dozed off during Pakistan’s innings.
Afridi had done very little to attract attention on the day except for spilling a couple of caught-and-bowled chances. Pakistan players came a cropper in the face of a well-directed and motivated England and in the process hastened their downfall on Saturday.
England had reserved their best for the last but it was too late and it did very little to change their fortunes in the World Cup. The only consolation was that the 93-run victory confirmed their top-seven finish and a berth in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Pakistan’s slim chances of overtaking New Zealand on net run-rate were sealed once Jos Buttler decided to bat first. In effect, they needed to reach the 338-run target in 6.4 overs — they managed 30/2.
Mohammad Rizwan takes a catch to dismiss Dawid Malan on Saturday. Sanat Kumar Sinha
Babar Azam’s men looked short of motivation and it reflected in the lack of panache in their effort. Babar himself pulled one straight to short mid-wicket while Mohammad Rizwan, the other mainstay of their batting, crashed onto the pitch in an effort to give Moeen Ali the charge and was bowled middle stump.
Pakistan’s best show of the match possibly came during the 45-run last-wicket partnership between Haris Rauf and Mohammed Wasim in what was a lost cause.
Eden Gardens expected an even contest and it showed in the attendance — 37,661 in a non-India fixture with no real stakes for the teams.
When England batted, they showed a sense of purpose. Ben Stokes came up with another fine effort to bury a few demons on the pitch which resulted in Carlos Brathwaite tonking him for four consecutive sixes to take the West Indies home in the 2016 T20 World Cup final.
Stokes struck 84 off 76 balls with 11 fours and two sixes and shared a stand of 132 in 131 balls with Joe Root to lay the foundation for a late surge. But it was far too late to play the sort of cricket they had once made their own.
Babar keen to continue
Eden Gardens: Pakistan captain Babar Azam didn’t hide his disappointment after a humiliating 93-run defeat to England in their last World Cup game here on Saturday but hinted that he would like to lead the national team during its rebuilding phase in white-ball cricket.
“We will sit together and take stock. We’ll take positives from this and discuss mistakes. I’m keen to lead the rebuild,” Babar said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“Very disappointed with the performance. If we had won the South Africa match, it could have been a different story. But yes, have made mistakes in bowling, batting and fielding,” Babar said.
Director of cricket Mickey Arthur also admitted they were far from being their best. “I don’t think we played our best game. I really believe the best four teams are now in the semi-final.”
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