Roy, Root fifties propel England to 1-0 lead

England 194-3 (Roy 65) beat
Pakistan 260-6 (Azhar 82) by 44 runs DLS method
First One-Day International in Southampton
Scorecard

Fluent fifties from Jason Roy and Joe Root helped England post 194 for three in 34.3 overs chasing 260 before rain ended the game prematurely, allowing the home team to secure a 44-run victory by DLS method in the first One-Day International against Pakistan in Southampton.

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first. England drew first blood by dismissing Sharjeel Khan (16) in the sixth over. A review from Khan went in vain as Snickometer picked up the edge.

In the next two overs, Azhar Ali (82) was dropped twice, once by Alex Hales and then by Jos Buttler.
In the 10th over, England unsuccessfully reviewed an LBW call against Mohammad Hafeez (11), who eventually fell to Joe Root (1-26) in the 13th over.

Babar Azam (40) and Azhar shared a 61-run stand for the third wicket taking the team past the 100-run mark.

However, the stand was broken when Adil Rashid (2-51) trapped Azam LBW in the 24th over as Pakistan reached 117 for three at the half-way mark.

Azhar completed his fifty, taking 84 balls to get to the landmark. Azhar and Sarfraz Ahmed (55) joined hands to post a 65-run stand which built a platform to mount a finish at the death.

12 runs short of a well-deserved century, Azhar was caught at third man off a top edge while dark clouds gathered overhead.

Soon after Ahmed brought up his fifty from 52 balls, the rain came down, stopping the play for about 20 minutes.

After the resumption, Pakistan lost Shoaib Malik (17) and Ahmed in quick succession but Imad Wasim (17 not out) and Mohammad Nawaz (17 not out) took the team to 260 for six in 50 overs.

Alex Hales (7) and Roy (65) began the chase positively with five boundaries within the first three overs.

Umar Gul (1-46) gave Pakistan the breakthrough when he had Hales caught at first slip. In the next over, Roy was handed a reprieve by the wicket-keeper.

Both, Roy and Root (61) pushed England to 66 for one after the first powerplay with some positive cricket.

Roy soon brought up his fifty in the 15th over but holed out down the ground in the 19th, trying to get a big hit away, ending the 89-run stand.

In a short while, Root reached his half-century and along with Eoin Morgan (33 not out), he took England to 147 for two at the half-way mark. At that stage, England needed 114 more to win.

Three overs later, a mix-up between the two led to Root being run-out. Morgan and Ben Stokes (15 not out) kept the required-run-rate in check as they added 35 runs before rain halted their progress for almost 35 minutes.

On resumption, the target was revised to 252 from 48 overs and only three more deliveries were possible following that before the umpires decided to call off the game with rain returning back as England won the game by 44 runs by DLS method.

Roy bagged the man of the match for his 56-ball knock of 65.

© Cricket World 2016