Arafat Minhas scores 59 and takes six wickets as Pakistan beat England
The all-rounder helped Pakistan recover with the bat before his left-arm spin helped turn England’s chase into an 87-run defeat in Rawalpindi.
Arafat Minhas scored 59 and took six wickets for 40 runs as Pakistan beat England by 87 runs in a one-day international tri-series match in Rawalpindi on October 20. Dawn reported that his batting helped Pakistan recover from a difficult start before his left-arm spin helped settle the result.
Pakistan made 302 after losing early wickets, with Minhas and Hasan Nawaz rebuilding the innings. Earlier NewsJaws coverage followed their recovery while Pakistan was batting; the completed match brought Minhas’s six-wicket contribution and England’s failed chase into focus.
How Minhas and Nawaz rebuilt Pakistan’s innings
Dawn reported that Pakistan had been 81 for four and then 133 for five before Minhas and Nawaz steadied the innings. Minhas said in a post-match broadcast that they had discussed building a partnership and batting deep, with a target of reaching 200 after 40 overs before assessing the final ten.
That recovery gave Pakistan a total England captain Harry Brook considered below par. According to The Guardian, Brook said his side was too careful against spin and could have put Pakistan under more pressure. His assessment came after England’s promising position in the chase gave way to a sharp collapse.
How England’s chase fell away
England went from 165 for three to 215 all out, The Guardian reported. Minhas dismissed Brook with a delivery that bowled him, after also removing opener Tom Banton. Reflecting on Brook’s dismissal in the post-match broadcast, Minhas called it a memorable ball for a left-arm spinner because it beat the batter and struck the stumps.
Minhas also finished the match in the field: a direct hit ran out Gus Atkinson with 11.2 overs unused, according to The Guardian. His impact across batting, bowling and fielding made him central to both Pakistan’s recovery and England’s collapse, rather than only to one passage of play.
Why the six-wicket haul stands out
Dawn reported that this was Minhas’s fifth one-day international. It said a Pakistan player had previously combined a half-century with six wickets in an ODI only twice, through Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi. Minhas had also taken five wickets on his debut against Australia, giving the 20 October performance an early career precedent.
Dawn viewed the performance as encouraging for Pakistan as it builds toward the next 50-over World Cup. The match showed what Minhas contributed on one day against England: runs when Pakistan needed a recovery and wickets when England threatened its total.
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Sources and context
- Pakistan's mythologised idea of an all-rounder finds a home in Arafat MinhasDawn
- Minhas rips through England as Brook’s men wilt against Pakistan in tri-series openerThe Guardian
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.