Shadab Khan produced the innings of his one-day career at Gaddafi Stadium on Monday, striking an unbeaten 113 to carry Pakistan to a one-wicket victory over England in the fourth match of the ODI tri-series and book the hosts a place in the final.
Chasing 242 for victory, Pakistan looked beaten long before the end. The home side had collapsed to 31 for three in the early overs, with Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam both falling for 10 to Gus Atkinson and debutant Henry Crocombe removing Saim Ayub for six, and the slide continued through the middle order as England’s bowlers kept striking. Saad Baig and Salman Ali Agha briefly steadied the innings with a stand of 43, but Saad fell for 32, Hasan Nawaz made 15, Agha 26, and Arafat Minhas and captain Shaheen Shah Afridi also departed cheaply, leaving Pakistan deep in trouble.
It was at that point that Shadab took the chase on his own shoulders. He reached his sixth one-day half-century while wickets kept falling around him, refused to panic as the required rate climbed, and then, with debutant Razaullah out for eight and Pakistan nine down, found an unlikely ally in Haris Rauf. The last pair added a priceless 50 runs together, Shadab completing his first ODI hundred under intense pressure before Rauf struck the winning runs in the 48th over, sparking celebrations around the ground.
Shadab finished unbeaten on 113 from 96 deliveries, an innings decorated with 13 boundaries and five sixes, and it was a knock defined as much by temperament as by strokeplay. Where others had thrown their wickets away against disciplined bowling, he picked his moments, farmed the strike when he had to, and trusted Rauf to survive long enough at the other end for the partnership to do its work.
Earlier in the day, England had been bowled out for 241 after being sent in to bat, and they too had needed a rescue act. Shaheen removed Tom Banton and Joe Root early, captain Harry Brook was run out by a direct hit from Razaullah, and Haris Rauf dismissed Jordan Cox for six to leave the visitors reeling at 52 for four. Ben Duckett and Sam Curran then rebuilt with a 93-run stand for the fifth wicket before Shaheen removed Curran for 42, and Duckett went on to his fifth ODI century, making 105 from 111 balls with 10 fours and two sixes before falling to Arafat Minhas. Razaullah marked his debut with two wickets, removing Will Jacks and Liam Dawson, while Atkinson’s unbeaten 36 carried England to a total that, for much of the evening, had looked well beyond Pakistan.
Shaheen finished as Pakistan’s most successful bowler with four wickets for 46 runs, while Razaullah and Arafat took two apiece and Rauf claimed one, but the day will be remembered for what happened with the bat. Victories like this do more than secure a final place: they teach a dressing room that no chase is lost while one batter is still standing, and they give a player like Shadab, so often valued for his bowling and fielding, a defining batting performance to point to. If Pakistan can carry that belief into the final, Monday’s escape at Gaddafi Stadium may prove to be the turning point of their tri-series campaign.
