Superb bowling won the day

ENGLAND were beaten by a brilliant bowling performance and sometimes you just have to take your hat off to the opposition and say, “Well played”.

You can get upset when your team loses if they haven’t turned up or thrown a game away. Not this time.

Pakistan deserved their win because they played by far the better cricket and put in the bowling performance of the tournament so far.

They were outstanding and did not allow England to play the sort of cricket they normally like to play.

I was concerned that it was a used pitch for the semi-final and it was a brave decision by Pakistan to give England the first use of it when it might be more difficult to score on later.

But they took their gamble brilliantly, thanks to their bowlers.

Junaid Khan is a wonderful bowler, Hasan Ali has been a star of the tournament and Ramman Raees showed no signs of nerves on his debut. Nine times out of 10, I still think this England side would win this game, but this was the one that Pakistan got right and there should be no shame in losing.

England will continue to get better, but this was a game that got away from them and serves as a reminder that, in knockout cricket, you’ve got to find a way – by hook or by crook.