Pakistan vs. England: Winners and Losers from the ODI Series
England bounced back from their dismal time in the Test series against Pakistan and clinched a 3-1 ODI series win against Pakistan with a massive 84-run win in Dubai on Friday.
England notched up 355 batting first, and while Pakistan's batsmen notched up a few good scores, they just didn't ever seem to get going.
It's onto the Twenty20s now, but first, here are the winners and losers from the ODI series. Add yours in the comments.
Winner: Jos Buttler
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After a horrendous Test series—where he was dropped from the squad—Jos Buttler finished the series on a high with an emphatic hundred.
Buttler hit 116 not out off just 52 with his hundred coming off just 46 balls, the eighth-fastest ever.
With the tour to South Africa now just around the corner, this kind of performance will do his confidence the world of good.
Winner: Jason Roy
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While Jos Buttler stole the show on Friday, Jason Roy also impressed.
The 25-year old notched up his maiden ODI hundred. While Pakistan weren’t overly convincing in the field, a hundred opening the batting is always impressive.
Having scored a half-century earlier in the series, it was the perfect way to cap off the ODI series for Roy.
Loser: Wahab Riaz
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Wahab Riaz had a decent series, even though he didn't pick up many wickets. Riaz is the go-to bowler for key parts and copped a beating in the final match.
Jos Buttler, during his rampage, got hold of him, and Riaz conceded 70 runs on Friday. As a result, his average took a big knock, and he finished the series with three wickets at 55.00.
The one shining light for Riaz is that he still managed to keep his economy in check. It was just 4.75, the second lowest of all Pakistan's bowlers.
The reason why Riaz is singled out considering most of Pakistan’s bowler’s performed poorly is because he ruined the hard work he had done throughout the series with a few bad balls in the final ODI.
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Loser: Adil Rashid
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This was a relatively low-scoring series (there was just one total over 300 and just one over 220), so any bowler who conceded plenty of runs stands out like a sore thumb.
Overall, England's bowlers were far better than Pakistan's, but poor Adil Rashid had a torrid time. He conceded more runs than any other bowler (221) and ended with just four wickets at an average of 55.25.
Considering just how valuable spinners are in the limited overs format, it's not looking too good for England's immediate spin future in coloured-clothing cricket.
Winner: The Interest in This Series
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England were outplayed in the Test series and bounced back in the ODIs. Pakistan fell a bit flat after winning the first ODI, but at least it means that we don’t really know what to expect from the three T20s that are to come.
With the ICC World T20 happening next year, every single player has a point to prove, so it should be entertaining.
Loser: Liam Plunkett
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Despite having not done anything obviously wrong, Liam Plunkett did not get a single match in this ODI series.
Plunkett took five wickets at an average of 29.80 against Australia in the last ODI series he played and picked up two wickets in the warm-up in the UAE.
It's a great shame to go all that way and not play a game, and it's probably fair to say Plunkett doesn't know exactly where he stands with England cricket at the moment.
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