England made it into the 2025 Champions Trophy tournament with a resounding win over Pakistan played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 11th November 2023.
England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and decided to bat first. Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow showed intent right from word go against Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf hitting boundaries at regular intervals. England’s openers kept hitting gaps not allowing the Pakistan bowlers to settle as they scored 72 for 0 in the first 10 overs.
After the field restrictions, Iftikhar Ahmed struck getting rid of Dawid Malan with a lovely catch by Rizwan. Malan and Bairstow added 82 runs for the opening wicket. Jonny Bairstow showed his class with some lovely shots completing his 2nd fifty this tournament off 52 deliveries. He was caught by Agha Salman. Ben Stokes came to the crease and looked in sublime touch along with Joe Root.
Stokes kept hitting big shots not allowing the Pakistan bowlers to settle along with Root. The all-rounder Stokes completed fifty off 53 deliveries. He and Root kept pressure on Pakistan bowlers hitting them for boundaries at regular intervals. Stokes’s brilliance ended with a lovely yorker by Shaheen Shah Afridi. Stokes and Root added 132 runs for the 3rd wicket. Joe Root also completed his fifty off 65 deliveries.
Harry Brook kept the pressure on the Pakistan bowlers especially against Shaheen Shah Afridi. Buttler and Brook took charge hitting them for big shots. Rauf struck getting rid of Brook with a sharp catch by Shaheen. Brook and Buttler added 45 runs for the 5th wicket. Despite wickets falling, David Willey hit a cameo that helped England post 337 for 9 in 50 overs.
It was an ideal start for England as Willey got rid of Abdullah Shafique off the very first delivery. Willey then dismissed Fakhar Zaman with a simple catch to Stokes at mid-off. Babar Azam and Rizwan steadied the ship before Atkinson got rid of Babar. Babar and Rizwan added 51 runs for the 3rd wicket.
Saud Shakeel and Rizwan put up another valuable partnership putting on 39 runs for the 4th wicket before Rizwan was bowled by Moeen Ali. Agha Salman and Shaheen Shah Afridi put up some fight putting on 36 runs for the 8th wicket. Salman completed fifty before providing an easy catch to Stokes.
Haris Rauf and Mohammed Waseem Junior looked in great touch hitting big shots that put some pressure on the England bowlers. Woakes ended the innings getting rid of Rauf with a high catch at long-on by Stokes. Rauf and Waseem added 53 runs for the final wicket. England won the match by 93 runs and qualified for Champions Trophy 2023. For his quickfire 15 off 5 and 3 for 56, David Willey was named player of the match award.
England Qualify For Champions Trophy 2025
England finished 5th in the points table and qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy. It was a disappointing outing as they won only 3 matches while losing 6 matches.
They suffered a 9 -wicket loss to New Zealand in the opening match. England won against Bangladesh at Dharmshala before suffering losses against Afghanistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and India before winning the next two matches against Netherlands and Pakistan to qualify for the mega event to be played in Pakistan.
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