England cruise through to Super 8′s after crushing Pakistan

London, June 8 (IANS) Hosts England are as good as through to the the Super Eight stage in the World Twenty20 with an emphatic 48-run win over Pakistan in a Group B match. For England, who lost to the Netherlands in their opening match, it was a do or die encounter and they put up a spirited performance by getting a formidable 185 for five in 20 overs after being put to bat first by Pakistan at The Oval. Kevin Pietersen, who missed the previous match due to an injury, smashed a 38-ball 58 after Man of the Match Luke Wright gave a flying start with a breezy 34 off 16 balls.

Pakistan’s chase was slow and disastrous and they were restricted to 137 for seven in 20 overs with skipper Younis Khan remaining unbeaten on 46. Their batsmen failed to get the big shots going and relied on the singles as England fast bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad (3/17) bowled a tight line and length. Pakistan never looked like catching up with the run rate and their chase was all but over after they mustered just 63 runs in the first 10 overs losing three wickets.

Pakistan now can only hope to make the Super Eight if they manage a big win with a better run rate against the Netherlands Tuesday at Lord’s. After the loss, Pakistan are sitting at the bottom of the table while England are on top in the group. After an early dismissal of Ravi Bopara (5), Wright and Pietersen played some audacious shots as England made 90 runs in the first 10 overs.

Pietersen hit five fours and three sixes during his knock and with Owais Shah (33) stitched a crucial 66-run partnership for the third wicket that set the stage for England’s mammoth total. England batsmen, who failed to get a single six against the Netherlands, showered six sixes and Pakistan managed just one and that too in the 17th over.

England Innings

Ravi Bopara c Malik b Aamer 5 (6)
Luke Wright b Gul 34 (16)
Kevin Pietersen c Gul b Ajmal 58 (38)
Owais Shah b Gul 33 (32)
Paul Collingwood c Afridi b Ajmal 15 (11)
Dimitry Mascarenhas not out 16 (12)
James Foster not out 14 (8)

Extras (lb 3, w 4, nb 3) 10
Total (for five wickets in 20 overs) 185

Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Bopara, 1.2 overs), 2-62 (Wright, 5.3), 3-128 (Shah, 13.2), 4-152 (Collingwood, 16.1), 5-156 (Pietersen, 16.5)

Bowling:
Yasir Arafat 4 0 42 0
Mohammad Aamer 3 0 31 1
Umar Gul 4 0 37 2
Shoaib Malik 1 0 13 0
Shahid Afridi 4 0 36 0
Saeed Ajmal 4 0 23 2

Pakistan Innings

Ahmed Shehzad c Collingwood b Mascarenhas 4 (7)
Salman Butt c Bopara b Broad 28 (23)
Kamran Akmal c Wright b Broad 6 (6)
Shoaib Malik c Foster b Wright 20 (21)
Younis Khan not out 46 (31)
Shahid Afridi c sub (Morgan) b Swann 5 (12)
Misbah-ul-Haq c sub (Morgan) b Anderson 10 (8)
Yasir Arafat c Wright b Broad 4 (6)
Umar Gul not out 8 (6)

Extras (lb 1, w 5) 6
Total (for seven wickets in 20 overs) 137

Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Shehzad, 2.1 overs), 2-41 (Akmal, 5.5), 3-41 (Butt, 5.6), 4-87 (Malik, 12.2), 5-102 (Afridi, 15.1), 6-117 (Misbah, 17.1), 7-129 (Arafat, 18.6)

Bowling:
Dimitry Mascarenhas 2 0 14 1
James Anderson 4 0 30 1
Stuart Broad 3 0 17 3
Adil Rashid 4 0 24 0
Graeme Swann 4 0 27 1
Luke Wright 3 0 24 1

Toss: Pakistan, who chose to field
Man of the Match: Luke Wright (England)