Pakistan vs England 2015, 4th ODI at Dubai: Jason Roy and Jos Buttler tons, and other highlights

As visitors England register a thumping 84-run win over hosts Pakistan in the fourth and final One-Day International (ODI) at the Dubai Sports Complex on Friday, they also recorded a series win of 3-1 over the hosts. The match that promised to be a thriller, basically turned out to be a one-sided affair with England turning out to be the top team, and they outplayed them in every department, especially the batting, which their first innings total of 355 reflects. Ayush Gupta takes a look at the highlights of the game.

Jason Roy’s impressive knock of 102: England’s opening batsman Jason Roy finally delivered and lived up to the expectations as he played an impressive knock of 102 off 117 deliveries that included eight boundaries and a six, at an effective strike-rate of 87.17. Following mediocre to average performances in the past three games, it was finally a knock that did justice to his abilities and the selectors faith in him. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs England 2015, 4th ODI at Dubai

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Joe Root’s sensible knock of 71: Middle-order batsman Joe Root, who has been in sensational form of late, continued his good form in this game as well played a sensible knock scoring a run-a-ball 71, including three boundaries and a couple of sixes. He seems to be making a steady upward journey on the development curve and seems impeccable at the moment.

Jason Roy, Joe Root’s resounding partnership of 140: England turned the game around, when both Roy and Root, put up this resounding partnership of 140 runs for the second wicket. The partnership, which included both Roy’s century and Root’s half-century, clearly turned out to be the confidence booster for the batsmen, especially for Roy. LIVE CRICKET UPDATES: Pakistan vs England 2015, 4th ODI at Dubai

Jos Buttler’s blistering knock of 116: Clearly, this knock was ‘the’ highlight of the game as it was this effort that completely changed the complexion of the game, scoring the ton off just 42 deliveries, en route his unbeaten 116 off just 52 deliveries, including 10 boundaries and eight sixes, at a strike rate of 223.07. He holds the record for the fastest ODI ton by an Englishman (top three spots are his) and the seventh fastest in the world.

Babar Azam’s healthy knock of 51: Pakistan’s middle-order batsman Babar Azam played a healthy knock, scoring 51 off the same amount of deliveries, including five boundaries and a six, allowing Pakistan to have some semblance of hope for a victory. However, the increasing scoreboard pressure took its toll and he was out quickly after making fifty.

Shoaib Malik’s strong knock of 52: Just like Azam, veteran middle-order batsman, Shoaib Malik too slammed a good knock of 52 off just 34 deliveries, including three boundaries and a couple of sixes, at a strike rate of 152.84, which was an enthralling knock. But he received inadequate support from the other end and eventually perished against the daunting task.

Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid’s three-wicket haul: England’s two most reliable spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid delivered to the expectations and once again proved their worth. They both claimed three-wicket hauls for 53 and 78 runs, respectively and destroyed the Pakistan batting line-up, that was already crumbling under the pressure of chasing an enormous target of 356.

(Ayush Gupta is a reporter at CricketCountry. A passionate supporter of Manchester United, he idolises Roger Federer and is also a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) maniac. He can be followed on Twitter @Ayush24x7)