England v Pakistan – 3rd One Day International – Match Recap
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 226 - England won by 9 wickets (with 76 balls remaining)
On Saturday, February 18, 2012, England sealed the four-match One Day International (ODI) series against Pakistan after winning the third match of the series by nine wickets, at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
After losing the Test series by 3-0, England have befittingly avenged their defeat by humiliating Pakistan in the first three matches of the one-day series.
Pakistan desperately needed to win Saturday’s fixture in order to level the series, and chose to bat first after winning the toss as they had failed to chase in the first two outings and wanted to set the record straight by giving their bowlers a chance to save a target.
The Men in Green, failed to get off to an impressive start as opener, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-Farhat-c64218, fell early after scoring just nine runs, the batsman once again struggled to middle the ball and was completely taken aback by the English bowling onslaught.
The demise of Farhat triggered panic in the Pakistani camp as they were banking on their openers to give the side a comfortable start.
With 49 runs on the board, the side lost their second wicket when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Azhar-Ali-c46890 got dismissed for only five runs.
In the next over, opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Hafeez-c76898 found his way back to the pavilion after hammering an innings of 29 runs.
Skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Asad-Shafiq-c46208 (18) both lost their wickets cheaply, putting Pakistan under tremendous pressure, as the side lost five wickets for only 97 runs on the board.
Pakistan was clearly heading towards a major meltdown before flamboyant http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 turned the tide around by halting England’s bowling onslaught.
The two batsmen, played confidently to post a respectable total on the board to save their side from an imminent defeat.
Akmal played a well tamed innings of 50 runs, while Afridi smashed a blistering knock of 51 runs to help their side amass a tally of 222 runs on the board.
With a target of 223 runs to win the match, England started their innings in an astounding fashion as openers Cook and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806 took Pakistan bowlers to task.
Misbah's men were completely outplayed as the Men in Green could only take one wicket in the match when they dismissed Cook after the batsman had belted an astounding innings of 80 runs. He lost his wicket at a time when England had posted 170 runs.
Meanwhile, Pietersen, played a sensational innings of 111 runs as he stayed unbeaten alongside http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Eoin-Joseph-Gerard-Morgan-c56032 (24) to help the Poms win the match and take the series.
The all-rounder was also named as the Player of the Match for his miraculous knock.
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