Reporting snapshot · 21 October 2026 (Asia/Karachi). Pakistan beat England by 87 runs in the second match of the ODI tri-series at Rawalpindi on Tuesday 20 October 2026. This report is based on the official ICC match account and same-day reporting by Geo News and The Express Tribune. It records the result and the performances published on the night; it is not a live scorecard and does not include anything disclosed after those sources were reviewed.
What happened
Pakistan beat England by 87 runs at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, their second win in two matches of the seven-match ODI tri-series. Pakistan made 302 for 9 after being asked to bat, and bowled England out for 215 in 38.4 overs.
Arafat Minhas was the central figure. The 21-year-old left-arm spinner and lower-order batter made 59 from 58 balls, then took 6 for 40 in 8.4 overs. The International Cricket Council recorded it as the 25th occasion in men’s ODIs that a player had scored a half-century and taken five wickets in the same match, and only the third by a Pakistan men’s player after Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq.
Hasan Nawaz top-scored with 79 from 74 balls, including five fours and four sixes. Faheem Ashraf added 39 from 25 balls as Pakistan recovered from 31 for 2 and 81 for 4 to post a total that proved well beyond England.
How Pakistan recovered from 31 for 2
England’s decision to field brought an immediate reward. Gus Atkinson dismissed Fakhar Zaman for a first-ball duck, and Sonny Baker removed Saim Ayub for eight, leaving Pakistan at 31 for 2. Babar Azam and Saad Baig steadied the innings briefly, but Babar fell for 34 from 52 balls and Salman Agha made 16, and Pakistan slipped to 81 for 4.
Saad Baig and Hasan Nawaz then added 51 before Atkinson had Saad caught for 35 from 54 balls. That brought Arafat to the crease with Pakistan at 133 for 5 in the 28th over and the innings still short of a competitive platform.
Hasan and Arafat put on 78 for the sixth wicket. Hasan reached his half-century from 46 balls and went on to 79 before Jamie Overton bowled him. Arafat, meanwhile, reached fifty from 54 deliveries and kept the innings moving with nine boundaries. When Baker dismissed him for 59 in the 48th over, Pakistan were 283 for 7.
Faheem’s 39 from 25 balls, including five fours and a six, gave the total late impetus. Pakistan scored 52 runs in the final five overs. Baker finished with 3 for 65 and Atkinson with 2 for 35, but England’s attack could not prevent Pakistan from reaching 302 for 9.
Arafat’s six-wicket haul turns the chase
England began the chase strongly. Ben Duckett and Tom Banton put on 91 for the first wicket, with Duckett striking eight fours in his 46-ball 45. Haris Rauf broke the stand in the 15th over when Fakhar Zaman caught Duckett.
Banton continued to score freely and reached his third ODI half-century, but Arafat dismissed him for 57 from 53 balls in the 19th over, with Shaheen Afridi taking the catch. In the 21st over, Arafat removed England captain Harry Brook for five, and the chase began to lose its shape.
Joe Root and Sam Curran tried to rebuild. Naseem Shah bowled Root for 33, and Rauf had Curran caught for 27, leaving England at 177 for 5 in the 31st over. Arafat then trapped Jordan Cox lbw for 18, had Jamie Overton caught for one, and dismissed Will Jacks for 19 and Adil Rashid for a first-ball duck. Gus Atkinson was run out for seven as England were bowled out for 215.
Arafat’s 6 for 40 were his career-best ODI figures in his fifth one-day international. The ICC noted that he had also taken a five-wicket haul on his ODI debut at the same ground. Rauf finished with 2 for 32 and Naseem with one wicket.
Why the win matters
Pakistan have now won both of their matches in the tri-series, having beaten Sri Lanka by 37 runs in the opener on 18 October. The result gives them early momentum in a tournament designed as preparation for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. It also follows the pre-match warning from England coach Brendon McCullum that Pakistan would be difficult to beat in their own conditions.
The performance also gives Pakistan a new selection question. Arafat batted at number seven and bowled 8.4 overs, offering the team a genuine all-round option rather than a specialist who can only contribute in one discipline. His 6 for 40 was not a marginal return: he dismissed England’s captain, opener Tom Banton, middle-order batter Jordan Cox and three lower-order players.
Shaheen, speaking after the match, said the form of Arafat and the fast bowlers was a good sign for the side. “Arafat is a very good talent and he is a proper all-rounder, which bodes well for us,” the captain said, according to the ICC. He added that Pakistan’s plans were being built towards the World Cup.
For England, the defeat exposed a familiar problem in the middle overs. Brook said Banton and Duckett had “set the tone beautifully”, but that England “lost the wickets in clumps” and could not build a partnership. He also said his side had been “a bit too much circumspect against the spinners”.
What comes next
The tri-series continues at Rawalpindi on 22 October when Sri Lanka play England. Pakistan’s next match is against England in Lahore on 25 October. Pakistan then play Sri Lanka in Lahore on 27 October, Sri Lanka face England there on 29 October, and the final is scheduled for Lahore on 31 October.
The Lahore rematch will test whether England can adjust to Pakistan’s spin attack and whether Pakistan can reproduce the same control with the ball. It will also show whether Arafat’s performance was a one-off or the start of a more durable role in the ODI side.
What is still uncertain
The result is settled, but several questions around the performance are not. Pakistan’s team management has not said whether Arafat will be used as a regular sixth bowling option or kept in a more limited role. No change to England’s XI for the next match had been announced in the sources reviewed. The ICC’s match account and the Pakistani reports agree on the main figures, although they describe some dismissals in different detail.
The sources reviewed did not publish a points table or net run rate. Pakistan’s two wins from two matches are clear; their position relative to Sri Lanka and England will depend on the remaining results.
