Former England captain Michael Vaughan added another subtle dig to a list of his numerous statements. Vaughan, this time, made a remark on the unpredictability of the Pakistan cricket team. His comment came after the national team failed to put up a decent performance against England during the first ODI in Cardiff.
Ahead of the start of the series, experts expressed confidence in Pakistan as England was forced to revamp its side following the rise in COVID-19 cases in the camp. However, the visitors failed to assert any control from the start. A slide in their top-order batting did not go down well with Vaughan. Taking a light-hearted dig, the former England skipper wrote on Twitter, “Love watching Pakistan play cricket. A team that can beat any team in the world on any given day but also lose to any team on any given day.”
Pakistan were given the upper hand before the start of the three-match series on Thursday as England were basically fielding their ‘C’ team courtesy the Covid-19 outbreak.
The volatility of the Pakistan cricket came to the fore when they collapsed to 26 for 4 in just the seventh over. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in their squad, England had to name a completely new 18-man side overnight going into the series. Despite being pitted against a second-string side, Pakistan’s superstars could not live up to their tags. England handed ODI debuts to Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Lewis Gregory, Phil Salt and John Simpson to play their first ODI against Pakistan.
Barring opener Fakhar Zaman (47 off 67) and all-rounder Shadab Khan (30 off 43), none of the other batsmen managed to put pressure on the England bowlers. The English side dominated the proceedings throughout their innings. Pakistan lost the toss and were asked to bat first. They were bundled out for 141. England won by 9 wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the series. Led by Ben Stokes, the hosts would be hoping to carry the momentum in the remainder of the series.
