Arafat Minhas follows fifty with six-for to crown matchwinning display

Arafat Minhas put in one of the great allrounder performances to propel Pakistan to back-to-back wins in Rawalpindi at start of their ODI tri-series campaign, following up victory over Sri Lanka with a more emphatic 87-run defeat of England.

Minhas struck 59 off 58 balls in Pakistan's innings of 302 for 9, dovetailing well with top-scorer Hasan Nawaz, before having a hand in seven of England's dismissals as they were rolled for 215 with 11.2 overs to spare.

Fresh from a maiden international fifty, the left-arm spinner took a career-best 6 for 40 - becoming only the third Pakistani to hit a half-century and take a five-for in ODIs - and then had the glory of a run out to remove a sprawling Gus Atkinson as the final act of an undulating encounter. The kind that will rein in developing optimism from England captain Harry Brook and head coach Brendon McCullum after an encouraging run of six wins from nine leading into this fixture. Brook had earlier opted to bowl first, believing dew would tilt the match England's way in the second half.

Minhas had other ideas. A fifth-wicket stand of 78 between him and Nawaz breathed life into a stuttering Pakistan innings. The former then cracked on in a stand of 72 off 49 with Faheem Ashraf. But there was no doubt they benefited from an untidy England, who failed to put the foot down when they had their opponents 81 for 4 in the 19th over.

Nawaz was dropped by Atkinson on 28, an easy tumbling catch to at backward square leg after a tame lap off Will Jacks' bowling. Minhas, meanwhile, was missed three times, the costliest coming on 12.

Sam Curran - returning to the fold after a groin injury - found a low edge that wicketkeeper Jordan Cox was unable to snare, one-handed, diving to his left. Minhas was eventually seen off by Sonny Baker, who finished with his best figures of 3 for 65.

Atkinson's face in the dirt for the crowning moment at his expense felt a world away from the very first delivery of the match, when Fakhar Zaman clipped his opening delivery to Joe Root at midwicket. Pakistan were soon 31 for 2 when Saim Ayub was done over by the short ball by Baker, pouched at backward square leg by Curran.

Babar Azam struggled against Jacks, seemingly unable to negotiate what modest turn there was for the offspinner. Beaten multiple times on the outside edge, he was able to use pace at the other end to tick over to 34 before an attempt to work off the back foot left a gap between bat and pad that the ball skidded through into off stump. It was no less than Jacks deserved as he stifled the scoring despite having only two men outside the inner circle when he was brought on as first change after six overs.

It was only when Adil Rashid was brought into the attack, after missing the home Sri Lanka series with a hand injury, that Pakistan's batters decided to use their feet. In this instance, Salman Agha greeted the legspinner's first delivery with a swift jaunt down the track to launch over cover.

Salman could not crack on as he did two days ago, his 107 against Sri Lanka was followed by a tame 16, sweeping a low full toss out to Atkinson at a wide fine leg. That brought Nawaz to the crease, immediately improving the score with a first-ball six off Rashid, back down the ground. He ended up being responsible for four of Pakistan's five sixes, in a 74-ball stay as smart as it was enterprising.

A 52-run stand with Said Baig added a much-needed pillar of stability. And though the 19-year-old Baig became the second top-four batter bounced out - this time by Atkinson - Nawaz was in his groove. A late cut midway through the 32nd over for a seventh boundary took him to 50 off 46 deliveries.

After an 87mph yorker from Jamie Overton struck the base of Nawaz's stumps, Ashraf picked up the mantle, striking back-to-back boundaries off Jacks and Rashid. Despite showing his hand by attacking spin down the ground, Brook opted to bring Root on for the 46th over, which was duly taken for 12, including a slap over wide long-on by the left-handed allrounder.

Before Minhas moved to fifty from 53 deliveries with a gorgeous cover drive off Baker, he was the subject of consecutive reprieves, both off Curran. A top edge on 42 was taken by a backpedaling Cox, only for the ball to bounce out of his one-handed grasp. The next delivery, on 44, saw a botched relay catch on the long-on boundary when Tom Banton under-armed over the head of Ben Duckett.

Two more fours through and over the extra cover would be his lot, as Baker dragged his length back, went straighter and forced an uppish shot that nestled into the hands of Brook at mid-off. Curran, at the fourth attempt, was finally able to register a wicket when Ashraf found deep midwicket before Baker had Naseem Shah caught at long-on for his third. Haris Rauf, though, muscled the last ball of the innings through midwicket to breach 300.

That looked under par after Banton and Duckett overcame new-ball difficulties to combine for 91 inside 15 overs. Banton was able to put an array of plays-and-misses against Shaheen behind him to smash 18 off Naseem's fourth over - including sixes over fine leg and midwicket - to bring up the team fifty at the end of the eighth.

When Duckett was bounced out by Rauf, England had the foundation to crack on. Unfortunately, the opener was the first of the top five to fall for 86 runs.

Banton was next to go for 57, slapping a short delivery from Minhas to midwicket when he should have found an eighth boundary. There was no such charity for the left-arm spinner with the removal of Brook: pitching on middle and turning sharply to avoid Brook's back-foot defence and clip off stump. With Minhas and Ayub in tandem, scoring shuddered to halt, with Curran's drag into the stands at midwicket off the latter, at the end of the 26th over, the first boundary in 48 balls.

With the required rate still manageable, Root and Curran were happy to tick over. But the loss of both - Root bowled by Naseem, Curran a second for Rauf, caught at deep square by sub fielder Ghazi Ghori - presented the lower order with a tricky task of 127 from the remaining 111 deliveries.

But for a couple of sixes shared between Jacks and Cox, they were never really in for it. A further two wickets in six balls - Cox lbw with one that drifted and slid on, Overton holing out to long-on - had Minhas to the fore again. And it was he who hammered the final nails in the coffin.

Jacks cuffed a short length ball straight to Afridi at midwicket for his second five-wicket haul in ODIs, before Adil Rashid was lbw first ball. Though he was unable to bag a hat-trick, a direct hit after a mix-up between Baker and Atkinson - recovering from his own fumble off a the throw from deep midwicket - capped a truly outstanding performance from a precocious allrounder who is here to stay.