Bairstow supreme as England canter to 359 to beat Pakistan in ODI

BRISTOL, England (Reuters) - Jonny Bairstow's magnificent century helped England make light work of chasing down a whopping 359-run target to beat Pakistan by six wickets in the third one-day international in Bristol on Tuesday as they took a 2-0 series lead.

Bairstow supreme as England canter to 359 to beat Pakistan in ODI

(Reuters)





Pakistan's 358-8 on a flat pitch under blue skies looked to have given the tourists a fair chance of victory but it proved woefully inadequate as Bairstow led the England charge.

He smashed 128 from 93 balls after sharing a 159-run first wicket stand with Jason Roy, launching the hosts to their second-highest successful ODI run chase.

So easy did England make it look that a score of more than 400 would have been within their compass as there were still 5.1 overs left when skipper Eoin Morgan struck the victory run.

"Extremely proud, we felt that was on par, and Jonny and Jason were brilliant," Morgan, who will lead England as favourites into the World Cup on home soil, said.

"When guys perform like this it builds confidence, for looking ahead, it builds confidence in the group."

England had made 373 in their victory at Southampton at the weekend and once again showed the formidable firepower which will make them the team to beat in the looming tournament.

Openers Roy and Bairstow began tucking into the Pakistan attack with relish, racking up 74 from the first 10 overs and taking it to 159 in 17.3 overs.

Roy struck four sixes in his 76 while Bairstow, making batting look ridiculously easy, belted 15 fours and five sixes before he was eventually bowled by Junaid Khan.

Joe Root made a breezy 43 before Ben Stokes was joined by Moeen Ali to accelerate England towards victory.

Stokes was run out for 37 but it was already a lost cause for Pakistan's dispirited attack as England romped to the joint fifth-highest successful ODI run chase.

England quick Chris Woakes had earlier reduced Pakistan to 27-2 with the wickets of Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam but opener Imam-ul-Haq hit a superb 151 to enable the visitors to post a big score for the second match in a row.

They scored 361 in a losing cause at Southampton.

The first ODI in the series was washed out at The Oval.





(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis and Ken Ferris)


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world