England crushed Pakistan by 93 runs to end an otherwise forgettable campaign in the World Cup on a winning note here on Saturday.
England scored a competitive 337 for nine in their last game of the tournament, and then stopped Pakistan at 244 in 43.3 overs.
Agha Salman (51 off 45 balls) was the only Pakistani batter to score a half-century.
Playing in his last game in England colours, David Willey (3/56) grabbed two early wickets to peg Pakistan back at the start of their chase.
A 53-run partnership for the last wicket between Haris Rauf (35 off 23) and Mohammad Wasim Jr (16 off 14) only delayed the inevitable.
Batting first, Jonny Bairstow (31) and Dawid Malan (59) added 82 runs for the first wicket before star all-rounder Ben Stokes smashed 84 runs off 76 balls with the help of 11 fours and two sixes.
Joe Root compiled a neat 60 in 72 balls.
The pair of Stokes and Root stitched 132 runs for the third wicket to power the defending champions, who will be returning home after this game.
For Pakistan, Haris Rauf took three wickets for 64 runs while Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Wasim took two apiece.
BRIEF SCORES
England: 337/9 in 50 overs (Ben Stokes 84, Joe Root 60, Jonny Bairstow 59; Haris Rauf 3/64).
Pakistan: 244 all out in 43.3 overs (Agha Salman 51; David Willey 3/56).
Marsh powers Aus to 8-wicket win over B’desh
Star all-rounder Mitchell Marsh displayed his six-hitting prowess on way to a magnificent 177 not out as Australia warmed up for the semifinals with an eight-wicket thrashing of Bangladesh in the World Cup here on Saturday. Set a target of 307, Australia rode on Marsh’s third ODI hundred and fifties from David Warner (53) and Steve Smith (63 not out) to complete the task with 32 balls in hand. The five-time champions will face South Africa in their semifinal in Kolkata on November 16.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, ended their campaign with yet another loss and would hope India beat the Netherlands on Sunday so that they can hold on to their 8th position and qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
Marsh, who had gone home after losing his grandfather, smashed as many as 9 maximums and 17 fours during his excellent knock, adding 120 off 116 and 175 off 136 deliveries with Warner and Smith for the second and third wickets respectively to take it away from the Asian team. Marsh’s innings was also the second highest individual score of this World Cup after Glenn Maxwell’s 201 not out.
BRIEF SCORES
Bangladesh : 306/8 in 50 overs (Towhid Hridoy 74, Najmul Hossain Shanto 45, Tanzid Hasan 36, Litton Das 36; Sean Abbott 2/61, Adam Zampa 2/32) lost to Australia 307/2 in 44.4 overs (Mitchell Marsh 177 not out, Steve Smith 63, David Warner 53; Taskin Ahmed 1-61) by eight wickets.