Pakistan’s Shadab Khan and Haris Rauf produced an extraordinary comeback at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Sunday, rescuing their team from 154 for nine to chase down England’s 242-run target.
Their unbeaten 89-run partnership broke a 51-year-old record, secured Pakistan’s place in the ODI tri-series final and delivered one of the most remarkable finishes in men’s one-day international cricket.
Pakistan appeared on the verge of defeat after losing nine wickets for 154 runs. Shadab and last batter Haris Rauf then joined forces, adding 89 runs without being separated as Pakistan reached 243 for nine in 47.1 overs.
The partnership surpassed the previous record of 64 not out, set by West Indies’ Deryck Murray and Andy Roberts against Pakistan at Edgbaston in Birmingham on June 11, 1975, during the Cricket World Cup.
The new stand is the highest 10th-wicket partnership in a successful men’s ODI run chase. It is also the second-highest unbroken 10th-wicket partnership in a successful List A chase, behind the 102-run stand by Thando Bula and Friedel de Wet for North West against Free State in South Africa’s provincial competition in 2006.
Shadab and Rauf’s 89-run stand is also the second-highest 10th-wicket partnership for Pakistan in ODIs, behind the 103 runs added by Mohammad Amir and Saeed Ajmal against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in 2009. Against England, it ranks as the second-highest partnership for the final wicket by any team.
Only three other unbroken 10th-wicket stands have produced more runs in men’s ODIs: Michael Holding and Vivian Richards added 106 against England in 1984, Amir and Ajmal scored 103 against New Zealand in 2009, and Kemar Roach and Ravi Rampaul put on 99 against India in 2011.
Shadab Khan’s unbeaten 113 rewrites ODI history
Shadab led Pakistan’s recovery with an unbeaten 113 off 96 balls, striking 13 fours and five sixes to record his maiden ODI century. His score is the highest individual innings by a batter at number eight or lower in men’s ODI cricket.
He surpassed the previous record of 100 not out, jointly held by Ireland’s Simi Singh, who scored the century against South Africa in 2021, and Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who achieved the feat against India in 2022.
Shadab became the third batter in the world, and the first from Pakistan, to score an ODI century from number eight. His unbeaten 113 is also the joint-highest List A score by a Pakistani batter in that position or lower, matching Shahid Iqbal’s 113 not out for Karachi Whites in the 1999 Tissot Cup.
Six batters have scored more than Shadab’s 113 while batting at number eight or lower in List A cricket, but his innings remains a landmark in the international game.
Shadab dominates Pakistan’s chase
Shadab’s contribution accounted for 46.5 per cent of Pakistan’s final total of 243, the second-highest share by a batter at number eight or lower in an ODI innings of more than 100 runs.
The highest such contribution remains Chamika Karunaratne’s 75 runs, which represented 46.88 per cent of Sri Lanka’s total of 160 all out against Australia in 2022.
Shadab scored 113 of the 140 runs Pakistan accumulated while he was at the crease, contributing 80.71 per cent of that total. He also made 91.01 per cent of the runs in the final-wicket partnership, scoring 68 of the first 69 runs added alongside Rauf.
Pakistan added 112 runs after the fall of its eighth wicket, with Shadab scoring 100 of those runs. Only Sri Lanka have added more runs for their final two wickets in a successful ODI chase, scoring 136 against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2010.
The 89-run partnership also formed part of a record combined total for the final-wicket stands in Sunday’s match. England’s last pair added 40 runs, meaning both teams’ 10th-wicket partnerships produced 129 runs — surpassing the previous ODI record of 103, set by Pakistan and New Zealand in 2009.
Haris Rauf’s seven runs prove decisive
While Shadab supplied the attacking force, Haris played a crucial supporting role by surviving 19 deliveries and remaining unbeaten on seven. He eventually struck the winning shot to complete Pakistan’s dramatic one-wicket victory.
The result marked Pakistan’s first one-wicket win against England in men’s ODIs. It was Pakistan’s ninth ODI victory by a single wicket, while England have now suffered six defeats by that margin.
The victory also secured Pakistan’s place in the ODI tri-series final, scheduled for October 31 in Lahore. The record-breaking recovery will be remembered as one of the most remarkable last-wicket comebacks in ODI cricket.
England’s Ben Duckett scores century in losing cause
Earlier, England were bowled out for 241 in 46.4 overs despite a century from Ben Duckett, who scored 105. Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi claimed four wickets to help restrict the visitors.
Duckett’s century was his second ODI hundred in Pakistan, making him the first England batter to score multiple ODI centuries in the country. Both came in Lahore and ended in defeats; his previous effort was a 165-run innings against Australia in the Champions Trophy last year.
Duckett now has five ODI centuries, but only one has come in a victory — against India at Lord’s earlier this year. Three of his other centuries ended in defeats, while one came in a match that was washed out.
Among batters with at least five ODI hundreds, Harry Tector has seen all five end in defeats, while Brendan Taylor won only two of his 11 centuries-scoring matches.
Shaheen Afridi reaches 150 ODI wickets
Despite England’s defeat, the match also marked a milestone for Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, who reached 150 ODI wickets after bowling 3,966 deliveries to achieve the feat.
He became the second-fastest bowler in terms of balls bowled to reach 150 ODI wickets, behind Australia’s Mitchell Starc, who needed 3,857 deliveries. Sunday’s match was Afridi’s 80th ODI, making him joint-fourth-fastest in terms of matches to reach the milestone and the second-fastest Pakistani bowler to do so.
England suffer another narrow ODI defeat
England’s loss to Pakistan followed a two-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka, marking only the second time the team had lost consecutive men’s ODIs by margins of two wickets or fewer. The previous instances occurred in 1996 and 2003.
India are the most recent other team to suffer such consecutive defeats, losing by two wickets to Sri Lanka before a one-wicket loss to Pakistan in the 2014 Asia Cup.
Pakistan’s historic win in Lahore, powered by Shadab’s record-breaking century and Rauf’s composure under pressure, has set up a place in the tri-series final on October 31.
