Pakistan vanquish mighty England to reach Champions Trophy final
Pakistan's Fakhar Zaman (R) looks on as Pakistan's Azhar Ali celebrates his half-century during the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final cricket match between England and Pakistan in Cardiff on June 14, 2017. PHOTO: AFP
Before the match started, the Men in Green were dealt a huge below when pacer Mohammad Amir was ruled out after sustaining back injury while warming up for the game.
His injury meant the underdogs were forced to make two changes, whereas Rumman Raees made his ODI debut and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf was replaced by leg-spinner Shadab Khan.
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Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmen won the toss and opted to bowl first, and his decision paid dividends as his bowlers put an outstanding performance to restrict the hosts to just 211.
The star of the show was once again young Hasan Ali, who finished with figures of three for 35 in his 10 overs.
He was equally supported by fellow pacers Junaid Khan and debutante Raees who claimed two wickets each.
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For England, right-handed batsman Joe Root finished the innings with the top score of 46 off 56 balls, with the help of two boundaries.
Chasing 212 to qualify for the final, the Sarfraz's men remained supremely in control, courtesy half-centuries from opener Azhar Ali (76 off 98) and Fakhar Zaman (57 off 58).
The duo added 118 runs for the first wicket to lead team Pakistan to a comfortable eight-wicket victory with more than 12 overs to spare.
Pakistan will now face arch-rivals India or Bangladesh in the final on Sunday, which will be played at The Oval.
And that's it from us today. What an incredible journey it is for Pakistan cricket team, which started from losing handsomely against India to now making it to the final of the mega event. Will the Men in Green be able to write history once again on Sunday? We will join you for the big encounter, and you can catch all the action live here. Party hard, as it is time to celebrate.
Till next time, it's goodbye from Azeem Siddiqui and Abdul Majid. Ciao
PAK 215-2 (overs 37.1)
FOUR! And that's it. Pakistan have qualified to the ICC Champions Trophy final for the first time.
Stokes to continue.
PAK 211-2 (overs 37)
FOURx2! Mohammad Hafeez is in a hurry. Two beautiful boundaries for team Pakistan.
Moeen Ali to start his new over.
PAK 202-2 (overs 36)
Fifteen off the over. Great one for Pakistan.
Ben Stokes to start his new over.
PAK 187-2 (overs 35)
Just four off the over.
Ball to continue.
PAK 183-2 (overs 34)
Seven off the over.
Rashid to continue.
PAK 176-2 (overs 33)
Three runs and a wicket off the over.
Ball to continue.
PAK 173-1 (overs 32)
Just four off the over.
Rashid to continue.
PAK 169-1 (overs 31)
Just three off the over.
Jake Ball to start his new over.
PAK 166-1 (overs 30)
Just three off the over.
Rashid to start his new over.
PAK 163-1 (overs 29)
Six off the over.
Plunkett to continue.
PAK 157-1 (overs 28)
Five off the over.
FOUR! Babar Azam hits another glorious boundary for Pakistan.
Adil Rashid to start his new over.
PAK 152-1 (overs 27)
Just three off the over.
Plunkett to start his new over.
PAK 149-1 (overs 26)
Seven off the over. Another good one for Pakistan.
Rashid to continue.
PAK 142-1 (overs 25)
Just four off the over.
Plunkett to start his new over.
PAK 138-1 (overs 24)
Ten off the over. Another good one for Pakistan.
SIX! Babar Azam hits his first six of the innings.
Rashid to start his new over.
PAK 128-1 (overs 23)
Six off the over.
Wood to start his new over.
PAK 122-1 (overs 22)
Just four runs and a wicket off the over.
Rashid to continue.
PAK 118-0 (overs 21)
Seven off the over. Good one for Pakistan.
Mark Wood to start his new over.
PAK 111-0 (overs 20)
Just three off the over.
Adil Rashid to start his new over.
PAK 108-0 (overs 19)
Just three off the over.
Mark Wood to start his new over.
PAK 105-0 (overs 18)
Six off the over.
Moeen Ali to start his first over.
PAK 99-0 (overs 17)
Just four off the over.
Rashid to continue.
PAK 95-0 (overs 16)
Seven off the over. Another good one for Pakistan.
Plunkett to start his new over.
PAK 88-0 (overs 15)
Seven off the over. Good one for Pakistan.
Adil Rashid to start his first over.
PAK 81-0 (overs 14)
Just three off the over.
Plunkett to start his second over.
PAK 78-0 (overs 13)
Twelve off the over. Good one for Pakistan.
Ben Stokes to start his new over.
PAK 66-0 (overs 12)
Ten off the over. Great one for Pakistan.
Liam Plunkett to start his first over.
PAK 56-0 (overs 11)
Seven off the over. Good one for Pakistan.
FOUR! Another important boundary for Pakistan. This time it's Azhar Ali.
Ben Stokes to start his first over.
PAK 49-0 (overs 10)
Eight off the over. Good one for Pakistan.
Ball to continue.
PAK 41-0 (overs 9)
Six off the over.
Wood to continue.
PAK 35-0 (overs 8)
Five off the over.
Ball to start his new over.
PAK 30-0 (overs 7)
Just one off the over.
Wood to continue.
PAK 29-0 (overs 6)
Just three off the over.
Ball to continue.
PAK 26-0 (overs 5)
Just three off the over.
Mark Wood to start his new over.
PAK 23-0 (overs 4)
Five off the over.
Ball to continue.
Just two off the over. Good one for England.
Mark Wood to start his new over.
PAK 16-0 (overs 2)
Six off the over.
Jake Ball to start his first over.
PAK 10-0 (over 1)
Ten off the over. Great start for Pakistan.
The second session is about to start. For Pakistan, it's going to be Azhar Ali and Fakhar Zaman to open the innings, whereas for England it will be Mark Wood to start the bowling.
So that's it from the first session. What a brilliant bowling performance from Pakistan to restrict hosts to such a modest total. Will Sarfraz's men be able to chase it and qualify for the final? We will see after a short break. Do join us for the next session.
ENG 211 (overs 49.5)
OUT! And that's it. England bowled out for 211.
Junaid Khan to start final over of the England innings.
ENG 207-9 (overs 49)
Just six runs and a wicket off the over. Outstanding bowling from the debutante.
Rumman Raees to start his final over of the day.
ENG 201-8 (overs 48)
Four runs and a wicket.
Hasan Ali to start his new over.
ENG 197-7 (overs 47)
Seven off the over. Great bowling from the left armer.
Rumman Raees to start his new over.
Just three off the over.
Hasan Ali to start his new over.
ENG 187-7 (overs 45)
Just five off the over.
Rumman Raees to start his new over.
ENG 182-7 (overs 44)
Just two runs and a wicket off the over. Great one for Pakistan.
Hasan Ali to start his new over.
ENG 180-6 (overs 43)
Just three off the over.
Rumman Raees to start his new over.
ENG 177-6 (overs 42)
Just four off the over.
Shadab Khan to start his new over.
ENG 173-6 (overs 41)
Just four off the over.
Junaid Khan to start his new over.
ENG 169-6 (overs 40)
Just four off the over.
Shadab Khan to start his new over.
ENG 165-6 (overs 39)
Four runs and a wicket off the over.
Junaid Khan to start his new over.
ENG 161-5 (overs 38)
Six off the over. Good one for England.
Mohammad Hafeez to start his new over.
ENG 155-5 (overs 37)
Just two off the over.
Junaid Khan to start his new over.
ENG 153-5 (overs 36)
Just four off the over.
Hasan Ali to start his new over.
ENG 149-5 (overs 35)
Just one run and a wicket. Brilliant bowling from the youngster.
Junaid Khan to start his new over
ENG 148-4 (overs 34)
Just two off the over.
Hasan Ali to start his new over.
ENG 146-4 (overs 33)
Just four off the over.
Junaid Khan to start his new spell.
ENG 142-4 (overs 32)
Just three runs and a wicket off the over. Brilliant bowling from the pacer.
Hasan Ali to start his new over.
ENG 139-3 (overs 31)
Just three off the over.
Mohammad Hafeez to start his new over.
ENG 136-3 (overs 30)
Six off the over.
FOUR! A welcome boundary for England captain.
Shadab to start his new over.
ENG 130-3 (overs 29)
Just one off the over. Great bowling from the youngster.
Mohammad Hafeez to start his new over.
ENG 129-3 (overs 28)
Just two runs and a wicket off the over. Brilliant bowling from the young leg-spinner.
Shadab Khan to start his new over.
ENG 127-2 (overs 27)
Four off the over. Good one for Pakistan.
Hafeez to start his new over.
ENG 123-2 (overs 26)
Five off the over.
Shadab Khan to start his new over.
ENG 118-2 (overs 25)
Seven off the over. Good for England.
Mohammad Hafeez to start his new over.
ENG 111-2 (overs 24)
Just three off the over. Great one from the youngster.
Shadab Khan to start his new over.
ENG 108-2 (overs 23)
Seven off the over. Good one for England.
Hasan Ali to start his new over.
ENG 101-2 (overs 22)
Just five off the over.
Mohammad Hafeez to start his new over.
ENG 96-2 (overs 21)
Just three off the over.
Hasan Ali to continue.
ENG 93-2 (overs 20)
Four off the over.
Hafeez to start his new over.
ENG 89-2 (overs 19)
Five off the over.
Hasan Ali to continue.
ENG 84-2 (overs 18)
Just three off the over.
Mohammad Hafeez to start his first over.
ENG 81-2 (overs 17)
Just one run and a wicket off the over.
Hasan Ali to start his new over.
ENG 80-1 (overs 16)
Just three off the over. Great stuff from the youngster.
Shadab Khan to start his new over.
ENG 77-1 (overs 15)
Four off the over.
Imad Wasim to start his new over.
ENG 73-1 (overs 14)
Six off the over.
Shadab Khan to start his new over.
ENG 67-1 (overs 13)
Just two off the over.
Imad Wasim to start his new over.
ENG 65-1 (overs 12)
Seven off the over. Good one for England.
Shadab Khan to start his new over.
ENG 58-1 (overs 11)
Six off the over.
Imad Wasim to start his new over.
ENG 52-1 (overs 10)
Seven off the over.
Raees to start his new over.
ENG 45-1 (overs 9)
Just one run off the over. Good one for Pakistan.
Imad Wasim to start his new over.
ENG 44-1 (overs 8)
Seven off the over. Good one England.
Raees to start his new over.
ENG 37-1 (overs 7)
Just three off the over. Good one for Pakistan.
Imad Wasim to start his first over.
ENG 34-1 (overs 6)
Five runs and a wicket off the over.
Raees to start his third over.
ENG 29-0 (overs 5)
Five off the over.
Junaid Khan to start his new over.
ENG 24-0 (overs 4)
Just four off the over. Brilliant bowling from the left-armer.
Rumman Raees to start his new over.
ENG 20-0 (overs 3)
Thirteen off the over. Good one for England.
Junaid Khan to start his second over.
ENG 7-0 (overs 2)
Just two off the over.
Rumman Raees to start his first over in ODI cricket.
ENG 5-0 (over 1)
Five off the over.
FOUR! First boundary of the innings from Jason Roy.
It's Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow to open for England, whereas Junaid Khan to start for Pakistan.
UPDATE: Pakistan's premier pacer Mohammad Amir to miss the semi-final due to back injury.
TOSS: Update from the middle is that Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed has won the toss and decided to bowl first.
Pitch report: Ricky Ponting reveals that the same pitch will be used for this match which was used for Pakistan-Sri Lanka match. The pitch looks dry and the weather will stay clear throughout.