Dubai: Jason Roy’s maiden century and Jos Buttler’s whirlwind ton ushered England to an 84-run victory over Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium to win the series 3-1.
Roy hit 102 off 117 balls with eight fours and, along with inform Joe Root who hit a run-a-ball 71, put on 140 runs in 24.2 overs for the second wicket to set the stage for England to post a whopping 355 for 5.
Buttler then hit the fastest ODI century for England off just 46 balls. It was the joint-seventh fastest in ODI history, with his second 50 coming off just 16 balls.
He swelled England’s total, plundering the Pakistan bowling attack to score an unbeaten 116 runs off 52 balls with ten boundaries and eight sixes.
With James Taylor playing second fiddle with just 13, Buttler put on 79 in 6.4 overs for the fifth wicket. In the last ten overs, Pakistan gave away 129.
Though no team had ever chased a total of over 300 in the UAE, Pakistan began their chase confidently.
Openers Ahmad Shehzad and skipper Azhar Ali put on 45 runs in 6.3 overs, but perished one after the other after settling down.
Shehzad pulled David Willey to Moeen Ali for 13 despite escaping being caught by Taylor while on 7.
Azhar, who had hit two powerful sixes, offered a return catch to Willey for 44.
Mohammad Hafeez, dropped on 26 by Alex Hales off Ali, was run out for 37. He and Babar Azam posted 65 in just 10.2 overs.
Azam, soon after hitting his third ODI fifty and second in this series, departed after scoring 51.
Shoaib Malek, who hit three towering sixes, also did not stay long after his half century, scoring 52 as Pakistan were bowled out for 271 in 40.4 overs.
Adil Rasheed, with three wickets, backed by Moeen Ali and David Willey with two wickets each, ended Pakistan’s challenge.
The most entertaining part of the day was England’s innings. They played aggressive cricket, making the Pakistan bowling attack look mediocre.
Openers Roy and Alex Hales started confidently. The pair put on 50 runs in 9.5 overs, their sixth fifty plus partnership in 14 innings together.
Pakistan earned their first success with the score on 54 when Hales, on 22, top-edged to Malek at third man.
It was a tough running catch but a tumbling Malek held on to it.
Root joined Roy and maintained the run flow. Roy reached his second half century of the series through a late cut off Anwar Ali. England went past the 100-run mark in the 22nd over.
Soon Root began to open out and hit Yasir for a six. Roy too whacked Malek for a huge six over long off.
At the halfway mark, England maintained a run rate of close to five an over.
To make matters easy for England, Roy was dropped off Yasir while on 76, his edge brushing past the wicketkeeper’s gloves with slip Mohammad Rizwan missing the easy chance.
Root used his feet beautifully against the Pakistan spinners and hit Malek for a straight six to bring up his half century.
Roy raced to his maiden century in 113 balls. He added two more runs and lofted Yasir high but could not clear Babar Azam at long on. It was only Yasir’s second wicket of the series at a cost of 165 runs including this match.
Azhar brought himself into the attack and dismissed Root, who attempted a reverse sweep from outside the crease.
Buttler, fresh from his unbeaten match-winning knock of 49 in Sharjah, went for his shots.
He slog-swept Malek for a six to deep mid-wicket. Eoin Morgan also hit Malek for two boundaries.
By the 40th over England were 226 for 3, achieving a run rate of 5.65.
Azhar dismissed Morgan with a googly to have him stumped for 14.
Taylor and Buttler accelerated the run rate with mighty shots.
Buttler hit Azhar over the sightscreen into the crowd for his second six. He hit Irfan for three boundaries in the 44th over, then dispatched Anwar’s 49th over for three sixes to reach his century.
