Shaheen Shah Afridi Blitz Sends England Reeling to 38/3 in Must-Win Lahore ODI

England's Must-Win Match Begins in Chaos

Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi won the toss at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Sunday and elected to field first against England in the ODI tri-series, and the decision paid off almost immediately. England, needing a victory to revive their campaign, slumped to 38 for 3 inside 7.2 overs as Pakistan's new-ball pair ripped through the top order.

Shaheen removed Joe Root, caught, to deepen England's misery, before the returning Harry Brook — the hero of England's previous outing — threw his wicket away in the most avoidable fashion.

Brook's Brain-Fade and a Furious Pakistan Attack

Brook, who had arrived at number four with his side already wobbling, tucked a good-length ball neatly behind square leg and picked up a single. He wanted the second run and went for it, but Razaullah attacked the ball in the deep and fired in a throw to the keeper's end. Wicketkeeper Saad Baig whipped off the bails, and replays confirmed Brook was short of his crease. England slipped to 19/3.

"That is absolutely unnecessary from Harry Brook, and he's had a brain-fade moment here," read the reaction as the big screen flashed OUT. The dismissal summed up a disastrous start: "This is like a gut-punch for England. Not the start they would have wanted in a must-win game."

Shaheen had earlier beaten Brook's bat repeatedly, darting one across him as the England skipper tried to charge, and forcing a leading edge when Brook attempted to flick. A full, fourth-stump delivery shaped back in and whistled a whisker past the off stump, underlining how close England came to losing yet another wicket.

Duckett Fights Back as Cox Arrives at Five

Ben Duckett provided the lone resistance, pulling Shaheen in front of square for four, clipping a leg-side length ball behind square for another boundary, and then top-edging a short ball off Razaullah over fine leg for six as the fielder leapt but could only get a fingertip to it. Duckett also cracked a wide delivery past point for four and twice punished Razaullah's width through the covers.

Razaullah, generating speeds above 143kph and touching around 146 clicks, beat Duckett with a 141.3kph bumper and struck him on the pads, but the left-hander kept counter-attacking. Jordan Cox came in at number five after the run out, with Haris Rauf introduced as Pakistan's first bowling change, replacing Razaullah.

Two Debutants, Two Changes and a Finger Injury

England made one change to their side: 25-year-old fast bowler Henry Crocombe made his ODI debut, replacing Josh Tongue following England's defeat against Sri Lanka in their previous match.

Pakistan made two changes for the first match of the Lahore leg. Fast bowler Razaullah made his ODI debut after Naseem Shah dislocated a finger during the warm-up on Sunday. All-rounder Shadab Khan also returned to the side, replacing Faheem Ashraf, in his first match of the tri-series.

Team Line-ups

England: Tom Banton, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook (captain), Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Gus Atkinson, Henry Crocombe.

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Saad Baig, Salman Agha, Hasan Nawaz, Arafat Minhas, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi (captain), Razaullah, Haris Rauf.

Background: England's Tournament Woes

England were chasing their first win of the competition after losing to Pakistan by 87 runs in their opening match on October 20, 2026, at Rawalpindi. In that game, Pakistan made 302-9 in 50 overs (Hasan Nawaz 79, Arafat Minhas 59; Sonny Baker 3-65) before bowling England out for 215 in 38.4 overs (Tom Banton 57, Ben Duckett 45), with Arafat Minhas claiming 6-40.

England then suffered another setback against Sri Lanka, who chased down 430 — the second-highest successful chase in ODI history — despite England captain Harry Brook scoring the fastest double-century in ODI cricket, reaching 200 off just 114 balls. Pakistan, meanwhile, began the tri-series with a 37-run win over Sri Lanka and also won their opening match against Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi.