Pakistan over Cooked by England in the second ODI

Pakistan was jolted by the successive ton from the English Captain Alastair Cook in the second One Day International, which paved the way for the subsequent win for the tourists.

Alastair Cook did it again, scored century against Pakistan in the 2nd ODI
Alastair Cook did it again, scored century against Pakistan in the 2nd ODI

England scored 250 runs after losing four wickets in the measured 50 overs and Pakistan was bowled out on 230 with one over to spare.

Alastair Cook was once again declared ‘Player of the match’ for his commanding knock of 102 runs and able leadership in the match.

The second encounter of the four match series was played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on February 15, 2012
Earlier, Cook won the toss and elected to bat keeping in view the first match where they batted first and won the match by a huge margin of 130 runs at the same venue on February 13, 2012.

The skipper went in with make shift opener, Kevin Pietersen and started off with caution but the run rate was enhanced later. Cook opened up in the eighth over from Mohammad Hafeez while dispatching consecutive fours and Pietersen followed him in the following over. Umar Akmal made a costly let off when he dropped an edge from Cook off Shahid Afridi on the first ball of the 15th over as the batsman has scored 28 runs.

Pakistan got the first break through when Pietersen was declared leg before wicket off Saeed Ajmal for 26 runs not before contributing 67 runs for the first wicket. Jonathan Trott joined in next with Cook who was going well at the other end and achieved his fifty on the first ball of the 25th over.

Trot was gone for 23 and the second wicket fell at 116 runs as Ravi Bopara walked in the center. The duo consolidated the innings and the ball was sent to the boundaries every now and then as the bowlers found it hard to get a breakthrough. Cook continued with his attack, collected 11 runs in the 39th over and completed his successive century of the series on the third ball of the 40th over.

Cook was gone for 102 runs off 121 balls with the assistance of 10 fours and Bopara demonstrated useful innings by scoring 58 runs in the middle order. Eoin Morgan remained unbeaten for 25 as England smashed 250 runs for the loss of four wickets in 50 overs.

Aizaz Cheema was the most successful bowler by taking two wickets, Afridi and Saeed Ajmal claimed one wicket each.
The Pakistani openers Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Farhat got off to a watchful start but they came out with a better show in the match. They shared a vital partnership of 61 runs and things were going right for them when Hafeez was gone for 26. Azhar Ali provided nice support to Farhat who gifted his wicket by running himself out for 47 runs.

The Pakistani batsmen were unable to carry on with the game as almost five of them had good start but could not capitalize and obliged England with their wickets. Azhar was going well when he played a rash shot and was bowled by Samit Patel for 31. Umar Akmal got rush of blood and was smartly caught by Patel off Steven Finn for 21 and Afridi was bowled by James Anderson for 18 runs.

Pakistan had lost six of their top order batsmen for 207 runs in 44.2 overs and it was left to Misbah-Ul-Haq to get them through. He was under immense pressure and became the eighth batsman to go back to the pavilion for 47 runs. The tail vanished by the quality bowling of England and the whole team was bundled out for 230 runs in 49 overs.

Finn was once again the star performer with four wickets, James Anderson and Patel clinched two wickets each as Stuart Broad held one wicket.

England demonstrated a true professional approach well led by their Captain Cook and they are holding the four match series 2-0.


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