Depleted England thrash dismal Pakistan

A depleted and inexperienced England thrashed Pakistan by nine wickets for a stunning win in the first one-day international in Cardiff.

After a Covid outbreak forced the hosts to name an entirely new squad on Tuesday, England picked five debutants and bowled Pakistan out for 141 in 35.2 overs at Sophia Gardens.

Saqib Mahmood dismissed opener Imam-ul-Haq with the first ball of the match and had Pakistan captain Babar Azam caught at second slip for a duck with the third.

The near full-strength tourists never recovered, with seamer Mahmood - playing his fifth ODI - taking 4-42, Craig Overton claiming 2-23 in only his second match and leg-spinner Matt Parkinson 2-28 in his third.

In reply, debutant Phil Salt edged to slip off Shaheen Afridi for seven, but Dawid Malan and Zak Crawley, another playing his first ODI, eased England to victory with 28.1 overs - more than half the innings - remaining.

Malan finished on 68 not out from 69 balls and Crawley unbeaten on 58 from 50 - the pair putting on 120 from 107 balls.

England take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, with the second ODI at Lord's on Saturday.

England's XI was their least experienced since 1985 with just 124 caps to their name - 98 of which belonged to captain Ben Stokes.

Sussex's Salt, Kent's Crawley, Middlesex wicketkeeper John Simpson, Somerset all-rounder Lewis Gregory and Durham fast bowler Brydon Carse were the debutants, but it was Mahmood, a relatively experienced head in this team on his 11th international appearance, who impressed most.

The Lancashire fast bowler needed a wise review from Stokes to dismiss Imam lbw first ball before Babar nicked one with a defensive prod two balls later. Debutant Saud Shakeel was then trapped lbw for five to leave Pakistan 26-4 off seven overs.

The 24-year-old Mahmood bowled with pace throughout, hitting a good length, and his fourth wicket came from a back-of-the-length ball that cramped left-hander Faheem Ashraf from round the wicket before taking an edge.

Overall it was a clinical bowling performance from England's new-look attack.

Gregory, who has previously played seven Twenty20s, shared the new ball and bowled a perfect away swinger to take a thin edge off Mohammed Rizwan's bat in the fourth over. Parkinson chipped in and Overton claimed the final two wickets with bouncers.

Pakistan, ranked sixth in the world, were expected to provide stiffer competition than Sri Lanka, who were swatted aside by England 3-0 in a T20 series and 2-0 in an ODI series.

Instead, Babar's side were soundly beaten by England's second string - or even arguably third string when injuries are also taken into account.

Pakistan had no competitive warm-ups before this match and it showed. England bowled well, but there were also a number of soft dismissals.

Fakhar Zaman and Sohaib Maqsood hinted at a recovery from 26-4 with a stand of 53 before a terrible mix-up resulted in Maqsood being run out for 19.

Fakhar top scored with 47, but tamely cut Parkinson to backward point when his side needed a bigger score.

Even Hasan Ali, Pakistan's number nine, was culpable, hitting a slog sweep to deep mid-wicket off Parkinson, having been dropped playing the same shot just two overs earlier.

Source: BBC