Image Credit- AFP
With a peek of their old dominant forms, England’s
soon-to-be deposed global champions said farewell to the 2023 global Cup with a
decisive 93-run victory over Pakistan at Eden Gardens. Babar Azam’s team is
been officially eliminated from the semi-finals as a result of the outcome.
After Ben Stokes had established an intimidating total
of 337 for 9 with his second forceful outing in as many games, David Willey
marked the last appearance of his international career with a sparkling
all-around performance that included his 100th and final ODI wicket. Meanwhile,
Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid turned the screw on a spin-friendly surface to snuff
out any pretence of a contest with four wickets between them.
If either team had up to their pre-tournament
expectations, England vs. Pakistan would have been one of the World Cup’s most
exciting matches. Rather, they both exited the sidelines as also-rans, despite
the fact that England’s second straight win guaranteed them a seventh-place
finish in the group stage standings and a spot in the 2025 Champions Trophy –
the most pitiful of consolation prizes.
Pakistan’s dejected performance started as soon as Jos
Buttler called the toss accurately. Their already remote hopes of making it to
the semi-finals had hinged on them scoring a massive total and thrashing
England by 287 runs or more in reply, which, to be fair, wasn’t entirely
unrealistic considering England’s performance in the tournament thus far.
Fourth-placed New Zealand was ahead of them on net run-rate.
After Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan bludgeoned their
way to 72 for 0 during the powerplay, which was England’s biggest score of the
tournament, Pakistan had to accomplish that amount in three overs, and the
demand grew tremendously with each extra run. With their final goal of 338,
their challenge would be declared over after 6.4 overs of chase, during which
time Willey’s 98th and 99th ODI wickets had reduced them to 30 for 2.
Pakistan had just one option after that: down. In a
comical reenactment of his heroics against Sri Lanka earlier in the campaign,
Mohammad Rizwan also unintentionally echoed past performances as he galloped
down the pitch to Moeen and seized up with cramp while the ball gripped to bowl
him through his gate. Babar Azam mishandled Gus Atkinson to midwicket to end
his campaign as he had started it against the Netherlands.
Willey celebrated his retirement with a passionate
cameo of 15 from five balls, and he took that feel-good element into his
opening burst, with Brook chiming in with a hard-hitting 30 from 17. In the
rain-affected chase against New Zealand, his second delivery looped into
Abdullah Shafique’s front pad, trapping him lbw for a duck. He then had two in
ten balls when Fakhar Zaman smeared to Stokes at mid-off for 1.
England’s margin of victory would have been more
emphatic but for a carefree tenth-wicket stand of 53 between Wasim and No.11
Rauf, who belted three sixes in his 23-ball 35. But by then, both teams’
thoughts had drifted away to the what-ifs.