Pakistan Were 'Pathetic', England 'Very Very Impressive' - Michael Vaughan Reacts On England's Thumping Win In First ODI

Former England captain Michael Vaughan says that Pakistan were “PATHETIC” in their loss in the first ODI in Cardiff to England, who were “very very impressive” after being asked to assemble just a couple of days prior to the start of the series.

The ECB had to call-up Ben Stokes, who is still not completely fit from his finger injury, to take up the ODI captaincy, as Eoin Morgan and the entire England contingent that thrashed Sri Lanka in the ODI series was placed in quarantine after 7 positive cases were reported.

A revamped 18-man squad was named. England fielded 5 debutants in the first ODI against Pakistan, but still managed to register an emphatic victory over the visitors.

Michael Vaughan slammed Pakistan for their poor show, especially with the bat as they were bowled out for 141 inside 36 overs. The former skipper also lauded England’s white-ball setup which displayed their strength in depth as they were able to put up an outstanding performance against a strong Pakistan unit.

“For England to rock up only yesterday as a team & perform like they did tells us so much about the culture of the white ball team .. very very impressive .. for Pakistan they were PATHETIC .. Its the only way to describe a performance like that ..,” Michael Vaughan tweeted.

For England to rock up only yesterday as a team & perform like they did tells us so much about the culture of the white ball team .. very very impressive .. for Pakistan they were PATHETIC .. Its the only way to describe a performance like that .. #ENGvPAK

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 8, 2021

They picked up early wickets and that never allowed us to score big: Babar Azam

Pakistan were rocked back straightaway as pacer Saqib Mahmood, playing only in his fifth ODI, dismissed Imam-ul-Haq on the first ball of the match and then got rid of Babar Azam on the third ball. Pakistan lost a couple of more wickets in the first powerpla, and could never recover properly with no big partnership to bail them out.

After losing Philip Salt early in the innings, Dawid Malan, playing in his fourth ODI, and Zak Crawley, on debut, steered England home comfortably chasing down the total in 21.5 overs. Mahmood ended up with a four-wicket haul and bagged the Man of the Match award.

Babar Azam lamented the loss of early wickets and also lauded the English bowlers for never giving any breathing space to the Pakistani batters. The second ODI is slated for Lord’s on Saturday.

“They picked up early wickets and that never allowed us to score big. Credit to England bowlers for taking wickets as that took the momentum away. Fakhar Zaman can open. Zaman did carry his form from PSL. We are looking forward to the next game,” Babar Azam said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

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