In their final encounter of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, Pakistan lost to England at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday, November 11, by a score of 93 runs. England made the brilliant decision to bat first and scored 337/9 in their allotted 50 overs. Agha Salman was the only hitter to score more than 50 runs for the Babar Azam-led team, who were bowled out for just 244 runs in response.
The England bowling assault brought down the entirety of Pakistan’s batting order like a house of cards. In the 23rd over, when batting on 36, the Pakistani wicketkeeper batsman faced Moeen Ali with his feet. But as the ball spun and smashed into his stumps, he missed it completely. After being substituted, Rizwan stumbled onto the field because of a cramp, and the team physician hurried over to attend to him.
But Mohammad Rizwan expulsion was the funniest of them all.
जाते जाते भी एक्टिंग#PAKvsENG #BabarAzam𓃵 #rizwan #MohammadRizwan #Tiger3Review #Tiger3 pic.twitter.com/pU4bJqlKwp
— Pankaj Mishra
(@pankajplmishra) November 11, 2023
Notably, in order to advance to the semi-finals, Pakistan had to reach the mark in a mere 6.3 overs. The Babar Azam-led team may have thought that winning would end their campaign because the goal was practically impossible to accomplish. But even with that awful start, they lost their first wicket of the innings, Abdullah Shafique (0 off 2), to a David Willey trap right in front of the stumps.
Pakistan’s tail made the 200-meter mark.
To exacerbate the situation, his opening partner and the centurion of the previous game, Fakhar Zaman (1 off 9), also went cheaply, getting holed out to Willey in mid-off. With a knock of 38 (45), captain Babar Azam attempted to steady the innings but was unable to get things moving when he smashed one straight to mid-wicket.
Consequently, Pakistan’s batting collapsed, and they were reduced to 191/9. They were eventually bowled out for 244, but a 53-run partnership between Haris Rauf (35 off 23) and Mohammad Wasim Jr. (16 off 14) managed to push their team over the 200-run threshold.
India
