Shadab Khan scripts thrilling heist as Pakistan clinch one-wicket win

Shadab Khan pulled off one of the greatest ODI heists by scoring a century at No. 8 to turn Pakistan's one-wicket victory over England into a sensational victory in Lahore.

England fell again under completely different circumstances after failing to defend 429 four days earlier, and they were taken aback by Shadab's late assault. He reached 113* off 96 to secure Pakistan's place in the tri-series final, hitting 19 off 28 at one point. He kept hitting boundaries almost every over. It also handed England their third defeat in a row.

No.11 Haris Rauf played his part with 7* off 19, hammering the winning runs in the 48th over to kick off wild celebrations. Shadab led the remainder of the 89-run stand, which was the highest for the 10th wicket in a successful ODI chase.

Given that they had lost their ninth wicket in the 34th over and a chase of 242 appeared to be finished, it was a remarkable partnership. But Shadab smartly picked his moments to squeeze out boundaries, hitting 13 fours and five sixes.

Shadab was adjudged leg-before with 21 needed when he was unable to pick a low full toss by Atkinson and it almost ended anticlimactically. But UltraEdge revealed an inside edge: by that time, the players were shaking hands, thinking the game was done. It didn't.

England's total of 241 runs was anchored by Ben Duckett's century, which Shadab's stunning effort overtook.

England were quickly reduced to 19/3 after Pakistan batted first. For his 150th ODI victory, Captain Shaheen Afridi took Tom Banton into his pocket. Two overs later, Joe Root fell and slashed hard to backward point to give Shaheen his second run. Brook was run out trying to steal a quick double after facing five dots from Shaheen.

Ben Duckett had advanced to 7 out of 12 by that time. Duckett started out a little scratchy, but he became more confident with his punches and cuts and pulled and flicked anything on his body. But he needed an ally to rebuild, which he found in Sam Curran.

Curran eased in with Saim Ayub and Salman Agha sharing an ending while Duckett continued to move along. Duckett went after Agha, and Shaheen gave himself a second spell after a 12-run over. With hindsight, pace could have been used against Curran earlier. He was put to the test with short balls by Shaheen, who ultimately knocked him out with one.

Duckett feasted on bad deliveries but preferred to accumulate runs otherwise as he progressed toward his century. Arafat Minhas, who went 6 for 40 against the same team five days earlier, entered to further slow the game down. Duckett fell from a slog sweep's top edge. England lost its anchor as a result.

Razaullah then attacked the lower-middle order with more short balls. England didn't really recover because of that and Minhas' prudent spell. Gus Atkinson’s three sixes ensured they crossed 240, but Shaheen returned to close off the innings with debutant Henry Crocombe’s wicket, ending a useful 40-run last-wicket stand.

Without the pressure of a steep run-rate, Pakistan could afford easing into the chase. Six runs were scored in the first three overs, and Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub scored 12 off Crocombe's second over. But in consecutive overs, both were hit by loose shots. After that, an Atkinson peach beat Babar Azam; at 31-3, their poor start was similar to England's.

Nevertheless, Pakistan lacked a Duckett to keep the innings together. With seven fours in 19 balls, Saad Baig gave them a brief spark, but he lost by one shot. They did not hit a single boundary for the next 15 overs, and the scoring rate plummeted. Hasan Nawaz and Agha went through a nasty rebuild during that time, but England took control of the game with two wickets in four balls.

In the 29th over, Liam Dawson finally struck out Agha. The spinner had bowled 42 dots in ten overs, maintaining a chokehold throughout his spell.

However, the Shadab assault appeared out of nowhere and sparked a historic comeback.