Shadab Khan hit an unbeaten 113 off 96 balls and added 89 for the last wicket with Haris Rauf as Pakistan chased down 242 from 154 for 9 to beat England by one wicket in Lahore and reach the ODI tri-series final.
Lahore, Pakistan: The match looked gone in the 34th over. Pakistan were nine down, 88 runs short and one wicket from defeat. Then Shadab Khan, playing his first ODI hundred, simply refused to let it end.
Duckett anchors a wobbling England
Pakistan won the toss and chose to field, and the early overs went their way. England were 19 for 3 inside the first five overs, with Harry Brook run out for one.
Ben Duckett rebuilt the innings. He made 105 off 111 balls, his fifth ODI century, with ten fours and two sixes. Sam Curran gave him a 93-run stand for the fifth wicket and made 42 off 52 balls before Shaheen Shah Afridi removed him. Duckett fell to a top edge off Arafat Minhas in the 37th over, and England were 201 for 9 when Gus Atkinson took over.
Atkinson hit an unbeaten 36 off 28 balls, three of them sixes, and England were bowled out for 241 in 46.4 overs. Shaheen finished with 4 for 46, a spell that took him to 150 ODI wickets. Razaullah took 2 for 38 on his ODI debut and Minhas added 2 for 26.
Pakistan fall apart at 154 for 9
The chase started badly. Jamie Overton took two slip catches to remove Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub, and Pakistan were 31 for 3 inside seven overs. Saad Baig counter-attacked with 32 off 22 balls, but Overton removed him too and finished with 3 for 43. Pakistan were 103 for 6, then 154 for 9 in the 34th over.
Shadab and Rauf rewrite the script
Haris Rauf walked out to join Shadab with 88 still needed. Shadab kept the strike and took most of the scoring, finishing with 13 fours and five sixes. Rauf stayed with him. His unbeaten 7 came off 19 balls.
The tension peaked with about 20 runs still needed. Shadab was given out lbw to Atkinson, but a review showed an inside edge and the decision was overturned. Rauf then hit the first ball of the 48th over for four, and Pakistan finished on 243 for 9 with 17 balls to spare.
The unbeaten 89 for the last wicket was reported as the biggest partnership of its kind in a successful ODI chase, and Shadab’s 113 was reported as the highest ODI score by a No. 8 batter.
Pakistan into the final, England on the edge
Pakistan have won all three of their tri-series matches and have reached the final, set for Saturday 31 October at the same ground. They still play Sri Lanka in their last league game on Tuesday. England have lost all three of theirs and need Pakistan to beat Sri Lanka to stay alive. Two of those defeats were the 87-run loss to Pakistan, when Arafat Minhas took six wickets, and Sri Lanka’s two-wicket win in a 430 chase despite Harry Brook’s 202.
Result: Pakistan 243/9 (47.1 overs) beat England 241 (46.4 overs) by one wicket. Shadab Khan 113* (96 balls, 13 fours, 5 sixes), Haris Rauf 7* (19 balls); Ben Duckett 105 (111), Sam Curran 42, Gus Atkinson 36*. Shaheen Shah Afridi 4/46, Arafat Minhas 2/26, Razaullah 2/38; Jamie Overton 3/43.
