Shadab's unbeaten century and Rauf's nerve take Pakistan past England by one wicket

At Lahore, Pakistan were 154 for nine, 88 runs from victory, and the queues for the exits had already started to build. I was watching with a notebook and counting the last ten overs ball by ball, because the final column is where this game hid. Shadab Khan had other ideas. With Haris Rauf for company, seven runs from 19 balls, he went on a boundary-peppering rampage that turned an English sure-thing into a one-wicket defeat and sent Pakistan into the tri-series final. The drama doubled when Shadab was given out lbw to a full toss on 97. He had started to walk off, hands shaken with England, before an inside edge was discovered on review. Twenty runs were needed and twenty arrived in nail-nibbling minutes: Rauf arguing a wide with Will Jacks and being ushered away by Joe Root, Shadab reaching his first hundred in any international cricket by dabbing a Gus Atkinson yorker for four, and Rauf driving Henry Crocombe for the winning boundary. I counted the last ten overs ball by ball, and the pattern only showed up in the final column. England had been bowled out for 241 with 20 balls to spare. Ben Duckett was the backbone of an innings that sparked in places but was blotted by clusters of wickets. His second century at Lahore, to go with two at Bristol, was dominated by sweeps of various hues. Pakistan won the toss and bowled, and England’s first four batters returned for 4, 5, 1 and 6. Tom Banton clipped Shaheen Shah Afridi’s fifth ball to cover to give him a 150th ODI wicket. Root had time to dispatch Afridi to the boundary before making an ugly splodge. Brook, fresh from 202 against Sri Lanka, was off the mark with an inside edge but was undone by a slip coming back for the second, fractionally too slow for an inspired Razaullah, on ODI debut, to pick up and throw at fine leg. Jordan Cox tried to nuzzle Rauf to third man but met only Babar Azam diving to his right at slip. England were 56 for four at the end of the power play. In Sam Curran, Duckett found someone with sticking power. The pair added 93 before Curran, 42, hooked a shorter ball to fine leg off Shaheen, who had brought himself back to break the partnership and duly did. England’s last five wickets added 96. Duckett reached his fifth ODI hundred, and first against Pakistan, with a single and a low-key kiss of the badge on his helmet. Pakistan did not bowl Arafat Minhas, fresh from six wickets at Rawalpindi, until the 29th over. He was the man to get Duckett for 105 and then the big-hitting Jamie Overton. Razaullah collected two more, scooping up Jacks off the dirt in his follow-through and tempting Dawson, eyes down, to pull to deep square leg. Shaheen collected his fourth and polished off the innings when Crocombe toe-ended to extra cover to give Babar his third catch. England were underdone, and later in the day it showed. Pakistan’s chase began under a purple Lahore night sky, floodlights on and the ground filling late. It was an intimidating atmosphere for Crocombe, on ODI debut, brought in for Josh Tongue, missing with a bruised toe. England also chose to leave Adil Rashid on the bench for the second match in a row. Pakistan had a tricky power play of their own. A frustrated Fakhar Zaman flashed a drive straight into the giant paws of Overton at slip in the fifth over to give the immaculate Atkinson his first wicket. Sharing the new ball was Crocombe. He was on the money with his first over, and a more erratic nine-ball third finished with the wicket of Saim Ayub, who had got off the mark with a six to his 10th ball. Saim opened the face and ladled the ball straight into the big hands of Overton, and Crocombe was mobbed. The crowd had one name on their lips, and Babar, at his home ground, made them happy with a pure off drive matched by something equally majestic on the on side. Just as the glory hit the veins, Atkinson had him through the gate, firing the top of off and wagging his finger in celebration. Saad Baig picked up the pace with an otherworldly 32 until a bullet was well caught by Jacks at backward point off Overton, who had pulled up in his delivery stride and called on the physio earlier in the over. From there it was cat and mouse. England’s bowlers kept their nerve, Liam Dawson, Curran and Overton bowling on a button, and Pakistan’s batters faltered. Hasan Nawaz yahooed Dawson into the stratosphere where Brook waited for his prize. Arafat lasted three balls before obligingly directing Overton to Root, who had just been ushered to short fine leg by Brook. Salman Ali Agha had a meaty slog and was caught at long off by Curran off Dawson. Razaullah got a gorgeous ball from Jacks between bat and pad to leave Pakistan nine down. It looked like game over. Shadab had other ideas. He and Rauf turned the chase into a last stand. Rauf’s seven from 19 balls is the least glamorous and most important number in the scorecard. Shadab peppered the boundary, kept the strike moving and forced England to defend fields they had not planned for. The lbw reprieve on 97 gave him a second life, and he used it. The first international hundred came from a yorker dabbed for four. The winning runs came from Rauf’s bat. The scorebook does not explain the injury. It only tells you where to start looking. There is a temptation to file this as Shadab’s miracle and move on. England lost more than a chase. They lost a total. A side that was 56 for four and then reached 241 through Duckett and Curran should have had more than 241. The last five wickets added 96, but the innings was still finished with 20 balls unused. Leaving Rashid out for a second straight match removed a middle-overs wicket-taking option. Overton’s mid-over physio break and Tongue’s bruised toe are not diagnoses I can make from a broadcast, and I will not pretend otherwise. They are availability signals. I trust the over log more than the press conference, and the over log has never lied to me. One match is not a workload verdict. It is a column to keep. Pakistan are in the final. The middle order still has a crack in it, and a last-wicket escape does not plaster over that. England have decisions to make before the next match: Tongue’s fitness, Rashid’s role, Overton’s load. Shadab’s century will be remembered. The next question is whether Pakistan need another one from him to win the final.