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2nd ODI: England, 247, beat Pakistan, 195, by 52 runs
Phil Salt top-scores with 60; Lewis Gregory takes 3-43

Hasan Ali’s journey to the honours board at Lord’s has been long and literally painful, but in the second game of this curiosity of a series between Pakistan and a Covid-enforced alternative England XI he stamped his name among the legends with an excellent display of bowling, and having outfoxed so many of the home side’s batsmen he went on to outperform a few of his own.
Hasan had bowled only 14 overs and taken one wicket in two ODI appearances since 2019, after a back injury ruled him out for more than a year, and upon his return he promptly injured his groin, leading to an absence of nearly 20 months in all. The 27-year-old’s performance here, which brought his first ODI five-fer since 2017, will be the cause of particular pride given both the time he spent fighting his way back to fitness and the quality of bowling that earned it. The fact it ended up being in vain as England recovered to win by 52 runs and wrap up the series will only have taken off some of the gloss. Continue reading...