• ‘Shocking start’ motivates Arthur

    Coach Mickey Arthur is confident Pakistan will recover from Friday’s heavy defeat to West Indies, come Monday’s World Cup fixture against England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

    Pakistan were limited to 105 all out inside 22 overs, as opposition fast bowlers Jason Holder, Oshane Thomas and Andre Russell used short deliveries to great effect. Opening batsman Chris Gayle then struck a brisk half-century to ensure triumph with 36.2 overs to spare.

    ‘Yes, it was a shocking start – the players did not take the preparations into the the middle,” Arthur told AFP.

    ‘We knew that we were going to get short-pitched bowling and had prepared very well for it, so was disappointing to see us play like that because we were prepared. But we will dust ourselves off and come back strongly.’

    Pakistan and England have contested 87 ODIs since the first in 1974. The former have won 53 and the latter 31, with three no-results. They met for a five-match series last month, when the English won four-nil.

    ‘We know how good England are but we know them and are battle-hardened against them. We have assessed what went wrong and will continue to work on those things,’ added Arthur.

    Photo: Getty Images

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    SA CRICKET