England inject life in ODI series with big win in Abu Dhabi

SHARJAH: With the momentum shifting towards the tourists with their emphatic 95-run triumph in Friday night’s second One-day International in Abu Dhabi, Pakistan and England will now move to Sharjah for the next game of the four-match series.
The third ODI to be played on November 17 will be a crucial game for both teams with England looking for a win in a bid to avoid another series loss after having lost the three-Test contest 2-0.
Pakistan, meanwhile, will be looking to boost their fragile batting to once take a lead in the ODI series which will conclude in Dubai on November 20.
On Friday in Abu Dhabi, Alex Hales smashed a maiden hundred and Chris Woakes ended his wicket drought with four victims as England beat Pakistan by 95 runs to level the series 1-1.
Hales’s 109 was the cornerstone of England’s challenging 283-5 before Woakes — wicketless in his last six games — took 4-33 to help dismiss Pakistan for 188 in 45.5 overs at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Pakistan were out of the hunt after losing half their side for 50 in the 19th over as Woakes, wicketless in his last six matches, ripped through the middle-order.
But it was David Willey who removed opener Babar Azam (four) and first match centurion Mohammad Hafeez (nought) in his first three overs before finishing with 3-25.
Woakes had debutant Iftikhar Ahmed caught for five, Shoaib Malik (13) caught off a miscued pull and then had skipper Azhar Ali bowled after a laborious 45-ball 22.
Sarfraz, who top-scored with 64, added 30 with Mohammad Rizwan (17) for the sixth wicket and 65 for the seventh wicket with Anwar (23) but it only delayed Pakistan’s defeat.
Sarfraz fought a lone battle before falling to Woakes in the 45th over.
England captain Eoin Morgan said his team had learnt from the mistakes of the last game.
“It’s an excellent performance,” he said. “The important thing is that we learnt from the last game.”
Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali praised England.
“I think England played well, we were expecting that from them and although our bowlers did well to restrict them, we didn’t bat as per the need,” said Ali.
Hales shared a 102-run partnership for the first wicket with Roy (54) and another 114 for the second with Joe Root (63) as England put up a challenging total.
England got off to a confident start on a pitch used for the second match in a row, as Roy and Hales lifted the tempo after the first ten overs.
Roy smashed two boundaries off paceman Wahab Riaz to bring up his third one-day fifty off 53 balls but four runs later miscued a drive and was caught by Shoaib Malik off Riaz who finished with 3-43.
Hales was finally stumped off Iftikhar by Sarfraz Ahmed in the 39th over. Root added 40 for the third wicket with Eoin Morgan (29) before Riaz returned for his second spell to take out Root’s leg stump with a slower one.
Jos Butler was cleaned up by Riaz for 11 as England managed just 27 runs in the last five overs.
Score Board
England won toss
England
J J Roy c Malik b Wahab 54
A D Hales st Sarfraz b Iftikhar 109
J E Root b Wahab 63
*E J G Morgan c Babar b Irfan 29
†J C Buttler b Wahab 11
J W A Taylor not out 9
M M Ali not out 2
Extras: (lb 3, w 3) 6
Total: (5 wickets; 50 overs) 283
Did not bat: C R Woakes, A U Rashid, D J Willey, R J W Topley
Fall: 1-102, 2-216, 3-256, 4-270, 5-274
Bowling: Irfan 10-0-46-1; Anwar 9-0-48-0; Yasir 9-0-70-0 (2w); Wahab 10-0-43-3 (1w); Malik 6-0-42-0; Iftikhar 6-0-31-1
Pakistan
*Azhar Ali b Woakes 22
Babar Azam lbw b Willey 4
Mohammad Hafeez c Buttler b Willey 0
Iftikhar Ahmed c Willey b Woakes 5
Shoaib Malik c Taylor b Woakes 13
Mohammad Rizwan b Rashid 17
†Sarfraz Ahmed c Buttler b Woakes 64
Anwar Ali c Woakes b Ali 23
Wahab Riaz c Buttler b Willey 5
Yasir Shah not out 16
Mohammad Irfan b Topley 0
Extras: (b 7, lb 8, w 4) 19
Total: (all out; 45.5 overs) 188
Fall: 1-5, 2-10, 3-24, 4-46, 5-50, 6-80, 7-145, 8-163, 9-181, 10-188
Bowling: Willey 8-0-25-3; Topley 9.5-1-33-1 (1w); Woakes 8-0-33-4; Rashid 10-0-32-1 (1w); Ali 10-0-50-1 (2w)
Result: England won by 95 runs
Series: 4-match series level at 1-1
ODI debut: Iftikhar Ahmed (Pakistan)
Man of the match: AD Hales (England)
Umpires: C B Gaffaney (New Zealand) and Shozab Raza (Pakistan). TV umpire: J D Cloete (South Africa). Match referee: R S Madugalle (Sri Lanka)