England ease to victory in the Southampton rain
England claimed the opening ODI of the series in a soggy Southampton on Wednesday night.
Jason Roy and Joe Root led the charge as England were set a low 261 to win from a full 50 overs. Pakistan were a bit befuddled with the pace of which to attack their innings as the threat of rain put the breakers on any push they were about to make. England never looked out of control in this one however and that is to be expected as the difference in ranking between the two sides coming into this series is clear to see.
Pakistan set a low total but not to much fault of their own. The threat of rain and the inability to time their charges effectively cost them the 40 runs or so they were short of by the end of the innings. Some good scores and some good starts were the order of the day for the batting. Azhar Ali lead the way from the openers position to score 82 off 110 balls before falling to Adil Rashid. Alongside that there was a 55 for Safraz and 40 for Azam. As for the rest, starts were made, (all of the batsmen reached double figures)- but nobody besides Azhar Ali could convert into a meaningful score.
As for the England bowling, it was as good as it could be on a flat Ageas Bowl wicket. Each bowler apart from Moeen Ali picked up a wicket and there was two for the ever consistent Adil Rashid who is making a big push for the test side. Joe Root even chipped in with four overs with a wicket to show for it.
The “Two R’s” ran the show in this one. Root and Roy both coming up with scores in the 60’s, Roy’s coming off only 59 balls. Captain Eoin Morgan chipped in with 33 towards the tail end of the innings as England won via the D/L method inside 44 overs.
The Pakistan bowling was a bit quizzical. With a low score you expected Gul and Amir to bowl a hefty amount to try and shift wickets in the early stages. Not that it would have mattered with the form that Root and Roy were in but it would have shown some intent. Gul and Nawaz the only bowlers to pick up wickets in a pretty sorry showing with the ball for Pakistan.
The second ODI of the series is on Saturday, to be played at Lord’s.