Standings
| Group A | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | Matches | Won | Lost | N/R | Net run rate | Points |
| England (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.045 | 6 |
| Bangladesh (Q) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 | 3 |
| Australia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -0.992 | 2 |
| New Zealand | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1.05 | 1 |
| Group B | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | Matches | Won | Lost | N/R | Net run rate | Points |
| India (Q) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1.37 | 4 |
| Pakistan (Q) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -0.68 | 4 |
| South Africa | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.17 | 2 |
| Sri Lanka | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -0.80 | 2 |
England Road to the SF's
England are the only team who are still unbeaten in the competition as they romped into the semis with three back to back wins in the group stage.
Let us see their Road to the SF's
England beat Bangladesh by 8 wickets
Batting first on a flat wicket at the Oval, Tamim Iqbal smashed a century as Bangladesh piled on 305 runs on the scoreboard. But England’s reply was quite brilliant too. Even though they lost Jason Roy very early, they did not panic and Alex Hales and Joe Root resurrected the innings for them. Hales smashed 95 while Root starred with a 129 ball 133 to help England win. Eoin Morgan also came up with a 75 run inning to help his side grab
England beat New Zealand by 87 runs
Batting first England put 310 on the board courtesy of fifties from Alex Hales, Joe Root and Jos Buttler. Then it was all about Jake Ball ripping out the New Zealand top order. Liam Plunkett picked up four wickets but Ball was awarded the man-of-the-match for his figures of 2/31.
England beat Australia by 40 runs via Duckworth Lewis method
A disciplined bowling effort from the English helped them restrict Australia to 277. They then had a bit of a stutter in the chase as they lost three early wickets but a century from Ben Stokes and a 87 from Eoin Morgan helped them win the game quite easily even though rain tried to play spoiltsport.
Pakistan Road to the SF's
Pakistan have been the surprise package in this tournament so far. There were times they looked down and out in the tournament but they have roared back in style to make the last four. Let us see their Road to the SF's
Pakistan had the flip of the coin go their way but they decided to put India into bat first at Edgbaston. The Indians cashed in on the opportunity as their top five slammed half-centuries to get to a hefty total of 319/3.
Pakistan never quite got into the chase in the rain interrupted encounter as they kept losing wickets at crucial intervals. Eventually they managed to only amass 164. The only notable contribution for Pakistan came from the bat of Azhar Ali who scored 50.
Pakistan beat South Africa by 19 runs via Duckworth Lewis
The men in green bounced back from the morale shattering defeat in some style by defeating the World No.1 team South Africa.
The Proteas decided to bat on a deck which had something in it for the seamers. The decision backfired as Pakistan kept chipping away at the wickets and bowled them out for just 219.
The top-order batsmen gave Pakistan a steady start and when the rains came down they were ahead of the Duckworth Lewis par score.
Speedster Hasan Ali bagged the man-of-the-match in this game for his bowling figures of 3/24.
Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 3 wickets
In the encounter at Cardiff between the two sub continental giants Pakistan won the toss and elected to field.
A combined bowling effort from their trusted seamers—Junaid Khan and Hasan Ali help them get breakthroughs in the middle overs and Sri Lanka could only manage 236.
In reply, Pakistan started off well but the lost their way in the middle. However, captain Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammad Amir stitched an unbeaten partnership of 75 runs to bring up an emphatic win for their side
England
Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Alex Hales, Jos Buttler, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Steven Finn.
Pakistan
Sarfraz Khan (captain), Ahmed Shahzad, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Junaid Khan, Mohammed Amir, Mohammed Hafeez, Shadab Khan and Shoaib Malik.
Pakistan Stun Favourites England to Reach The Final
Pakistan saved their best for the last, as they stunned the much fancied England team to reach their first ever Champions Trophy final.
It was a dominating performance from the men in green as they coasted home with eight wicket in hand, chasing down the total of 212 with 77 balls remaining
First, it was the bowlers who produced a brilliant performance to restrict the formidable England batting line-up to 211 after Sarfraz Ahmed opted to bowl on the pitch which was the same one used against Sri Lanka.
The star with the ball was once again pacer Hasan Ali, who ended up with a three wicket-haul for the third time in as many games. He was also awarded the man-of-the match.
It seemed Pakistani batsmen were batting on a different pitch during the chase as they cruised to complete the target in 37.1 overs, after openers Azhar Ali (76 off 100) and Fakhar Zaman (57 off 58) provided a perfect start.
The duo shared an 118-runs stand off 127 balls ensuring Pakistan gets home comfortably
The remarkable result also made a mockery of pre-tournament talk and predictions as the eighth-ranked Pakistan pummeled title favourites England to reach the final at The Oval on Sunday.
The star with the ball was once again pacer Hasan Ali, who ended up with a three wicket-haul for the third time in as many games. He was also awarded the man-of-the match.
It seemed Pakistani batsmen were batting on a different pitch during the chase as they cruised to complete the target in 37.1 overs, after openers Azhar Ali (76 off 100) and Fakhar Zaman (57 off 58) provided a perfect start.
The duo shared an 118-runs stand off 127 balls ensuring Pakistan gets home comfortably
The remarkable result also made a mockery of pre-tournament talk and predictions as the eighth-ranked Pakistan pummeled title favourites England to reach the final at The Oval on Sunday.
They have always been an unpredictable side but England, the only undefeated in the league stage, were expected to get past the sub-continent squad with little difficulty.
The same England batsmen, who batted with flair and finesse through the tournament, came a cropper in a high stake semifinal. They found it hard to keep the scoreboard ticking and losing wickets at regular intervals made life tougher for them. Not a single six was hit in their innings.
Pakistan, on the contrary, came out for the chase with a plan.
Ali batted solidly while Zaman attacked from ball one despite being tested with a lot of short balls.
Zaman, playing only his third ODI, went for the big shots and even though he mishit a lot of them, kept on playing in the same vein. The southpaw ended hitting seven fours and a six, that came off a top edge over the wicket-keeper.
Thanks to openers' first hundred stand of the tournament, the inconsistent Pakistan middle order was not tested much.
The same England batsmen, who batted with flair and finesse through the tournament, came a cropper in a high stake semifinal. They found it hard to keep the scoreboard ticking and losing wickets at regular intervals made life tougher for them. Not a single six was hit in their innings.
Pakistan, on the contrary, came out for the chase with a plan.
Ali batted solidly while Zaman attacked from ball one despite being tested with a lot of short balls.
Zaman, playing only his third ODI, went for the big shots and even though he mishit a lot of them, kept on playing in the same vein. The southpaw ended hitting seven fours and a six, that came off a top edge over the wicket-keeper.
Thanks to openers' first hundred stand of the tournament, the inconsistent Pakistan middle order was not tested much.
Number three Babar Azam played sensibly for his unbeaten 38 off 45 balls and so did Mohammad Hafeez (31 off 21), who hit the winning boundary to spark wild celebrations.
Earlier, Pakistan pacers dished out a superb bowling effort to finish the England innings in 49.5 overs at the Sophia Gardens.
Besides Ali (3/35), the other bowlers who impressed were Junaid Khan (2/42) and debutant Rumman Raees (2/44).
Young spinner Shadab Khan (1/40) scalped one wicket, while Imad Wasim (0/16) and Mohammad Hafeez (0/33) also bowled well.
England rode on useful contributions from top-order batsmen - Joe Root (46), Jonny Bairstow (43) and captain Eoin Morgan (33) - but they kept losing wicket at regular intervals due to sustained pressure created by Pakistan bowlers.
In the end, Ben Stokes, who played an unusual knock of 34 off 64 balls, helped England cross the 200-run mark.
England were dealt an early blow when Hales was sent back by Raees with Babar Azam taking the catch in the sixth over.
Bairstow, who was brought in the playing XI in place of Jason Roy, and Root helped England reach fifty in 9.4 overs.
However, Bairstow top-edged one off Ali and Hafeez took an easy catch at deep square leg, leaving England at 80 for two.
Skipper Morgan then joined Root and the duo batted with purpose to bring up the hundred in 21.4 overs. The 48-run stand for the third wicket was broken by 18-year-old spinner, Shadab Khan, in the 28th over.
Looking to cut the ball, Root nicked it to wicket-keeper Sarfraz, as England were reduced to 128 for three.
Morgan, too, perished in the 32nd over - while looking to belt it down the ground, he ended up giving a simple catch to the keeper.
Seamer Junaid Khan then struck successive blows, dismissing Jos Butler (4) and Moeen Ali (11) in the 35th and 39th over, respectively, as England slumped to 162 for six.
The total seemed to give England hope, but Pakistan's big start to their innings extinguished any such hopes.
Pakistan can now have the chance to avenge their loss against India, if India overcomes Bangladesh in the second semi-final on Thursday June 15,2017
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