Cardiff: Pakistan were bundled out for 141 in the 1st ODI against England, courtesy of some brilliant fast-bowling by Saqib Mahmood and Matthew Parkinson. Mahmood, whose parents hail from Pakistan took two quick wickets in the very first over of the match and set the tone for the entire innings. Mahmood picked up the prized wickets of Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam in the first three balls of the match.
There was no coming back for Pakistan from that point onwards. The wickets kept on falling for the visiting team. Fakhar Zaman was the top scorer with 47 runs in 67 balls, but even he could do very little to the eventual score of Pakistan.
England was without their top bowlers like Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Willey but still, the English bowlers were on top of their game and did not make the English fans miss their original bowlers. Mahmood took 4 wickets while Overton and Parkinson both chipped away with two wickets each. Pakistan was bowled out in the 36th over itself.
Is Saqib Mahmood From Pakistan?
The fast-bowler who rattled the Pakistani top order has Pakistani roots but isn't from Pakistan. He was born in Birmingham but his parents had migrated from the sub-continent nation. Mahmood had faced problems due to his Pakistani roots to get an Indian visa in January 2019 when England travelled to India to play a series.
Failure of Pakistan Batsmen?
Pakistani batsmen failed to take advantage of the situation that prevailed before the start of the match. After the recent incident of seven members of the England cricket team getting affected by Covid-19, a new-look England side was ready to face Pakistan. This side had just three hours of training before the start of the match.
The second innings had started and it looks like England would easily chase down the target of 142 runs.