England slumps; Pakistan wins
Print Edition
ENGLAND lost another Cricket World Cup match by a big margin yesterday, and its odds of making the quarterfinals are fading. Pakistan did the opposite, winning for the first time in three matches to improve its chances of reaching the final eight.
Nine days after losing to New Zealand by eight wickets, England returned to the same venue in Wellington and lost by nine wickets to Sri Lanka despite posting a challenging total of 309.
In Brisbane, Australia, Mohammad Irfan used his height to full effect to take four wickets as Pakistan defended a low total against Zimbabwe to get its tournament campaign back on track with a 20-run victory.
The only good news for England was Joe Root’s 121 runs. But after embarrassing losses to Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka — with a win over second-tier Scotland sprinkled in — the English find themselves sixth of seven teams in Pool A.
They have two more matches to make amends and sneak into the top four of the group — against third-place Bangladesh and first-time World Cup entrant Afghanistan, currently fifth in the group.
For the Sri Lankans, who reached 312-1 in the 48th over of a comfortable chase, Lahiru Thirimanne was 139 not out and veteran Kumar Sangakkara was unbeaten on 117.
Thirimanne rated it one of his best innings, adding he was fortunate to have Sangakkara at the other end.
“At the moment I think he’s No. 1,” Thirimanne said of Sangakkara. “I mean, he is batting really well. Not only is he rotating the strike, but hitting the boundaries as well.”
England captain Eoin Morgan said: “We certainly lost it with the ball.”
“I thought we had enough runs,” he said. “I was happy at halftime.”
Zimbabwe was happy at the halfway mark in Brisbane, too, after restricting Pakistan to 235-7.
Pakistan’s gamble to drop experienced batsman Younis Khan in favor of Rahat Ali to bolster the bowling attack paid off on the fast, bouncy wicket at the Gabba, after coming under question when the 1992 champion slipped to 4-2 after winning the toss and batting. Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq went in at that stage and stuck around for 42 overs, scoring 73 runs before he was out trying to lift the run rate. Wahab Riaz was unbeaten on 54 after a late onslaught at the end.
The 2.16-meter Irfan had Zimbabwe reeling at 22-2 in reply, and returned in his second spell to snuff out a dangerous partnership, finishing with a career-best 4-30. Riaz chipped in with 4-45.
“The team fought really well — special credit goes to the bowlers,” Misbah said. “Really started well, right from the start — kept the pressure up, kept taking wickets. That’s the key.”
There will be an off-day from competition today, the first since the tournament began on February 14.
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