The tourists were thrashed by England in the first four games of the series and a fifth defeat in a row seemed very much on the cards when the two teams took to the field in Cardiff especially after England piled up 302-9 last September. His final dismissal of Ben stokes completely sealed the deal for England as they were left toterring at 201/8. In the game which had the most riding on it all tournament, Pakistan and Sri Lanka provided a spectacle befitting the magnitude of the occasion, and Pakistan sneaked across the line with a thrilling three-wicket win.
The match will be a virtual quarter-final as the victor would join group leaders India in the semi-finals.
They lost their last eight wickets for 83 runs, failed to hit a single six on this small playing area, and were unable to make Pakistan pay for a series of early fielding lapses which benefited Jonny Bairstow especially.
The quality of the Cardiff pitch will be discussed heatedly if England lose but it should be remembered preparations are overseen by the International Cricket Council and it would have been their decision to employ a used one.
The dashing Fakhar completed a 49-ball fifty to follow his 50 against Sri Lanka.
Morgan tried to dominate Hasan at the start of his second spell, but instead edged behind from up the wicket when the seamer pushed the ball wider.
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But Rafael Nadal needed just 90 minutes to wrap up a 6-0 6-1 6-0 win against Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili. Murray seized his lifeline, a 4th ace giving him a two-set lead.
In the match that features the seventh and eighth ranked teams on the ODI rankings, Sri Lanka will be without some of their frontline players like Chamara Kapugedara, Kusal Perera and Upul Tharanga.
Meanwhile England dropped struggling opener Jason Roy, whose four in the 40-run group win over Australia meant he'd averaged just 6.37 from eight one-day worldwide innings this season, with a mere two double-figure scores.
Medium-fast Rumman Raees took 2-44 off nine overs on an impressive ODI debut, being called up late to replace Mohammad Amir. Dropped twice, Bairstow's luck ran out when a misjudged pull off Hasan sailed gently to Hafeez at deep square leg.
Young spinner Shadab Khan dismissed Joe Root to end a promising partnership between the prolific batsman and Eoin Morgan.
He eventually holed out to cover when deceived by Hasan's slower ball.
Sarfraz rescued Pakistan with an unbeaten 61 after they collapsed against Sri Lanka but, two days on, there was no repeat of that batting slump.
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