ICC Champions Trophy: Semi-final 1 : Pakistan smashed England to be the first qualifier for the fina

A resurgent Pakistan stunned title favourites England and defeated latter by 8 wickets to enter their maiden ICC Champions Trophy final here on Wednesday (June 14). Bowling first, Pakistan maintained pressure upon English batsmen and never let them score freely in the crucial match and bowled them out to 211. Chasing the target, Pakistani batsmen achieved the total quite convincingly in 38th over with 8 wickets in hands. Opener Azhar Ali top scored 76 off 100 balls along with young Fakhar Zaman (57) to ensure Pakistan reach their maiden Champions Trophy final. Bowlers justified Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed's decision to bowl as they restricted England to a paltry total. England's top order collapsed as Pakistan bowlers consistently mounted pressure over batsman to set a target of 212 for them to chase. Jonny Bairstow (43), Joe Root (46) and skipper Eoin Morgan (33) failed to capitalise upon the good starts they got which helped the Pakistani bowlers set themselves a total they would very happy to chase down. Ben Stokes, England's last hope, too couldn't do any damage to Pakistan for he could never play his natural aggressive game. Earlier, Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and elected bowl against England at Wales Cricket Stadium. Jonny Bairstow came in for England in place of out-of-form Jason Roy. While in-form pacer Mohammed Amir was ruled out of Pakistan's squad after suffering a back spasm. He was replaced by Rumman Raees, while leg-spinner Shadab Khan came in for Faheem Ashraf.