CWC Memories: England v Pakistan

England and Pakistan kick off their latest Test series at Lord’s today, the two sides have been regular opponents at the ICC Cricket World Cup over the years.

It’s honours even in head-to-head clashes at the World Cup, with both sides claiming four wins and one no-result in nine matches.

We look back at each of these Cricket World Cup meetings between England and Pakistan.

16 June 1979 (Leeds)

England won by 14 runs

England and Pakistan’s first-ever meeting at the ICC Cricket World Cup came in the form of a low-scoring affair in Leeds.

Batting first, the hosts made 165/9 from their 60 overs at Headingley, Graham Gooch top-scoring with 33.

While it looked like a tough score to defend, England opening bowler Mike Hendrick finished with superb figures of 4/15 from 12 overs as Pakistan were bowled out for 151.

13 June 1983 (Lord’s)

England won by 8 wickets

Four years later England got the better of Pakistan again, this time in more convincing fashion at Lord’s.

83 not out from Zaheer Abbas helped Pakistan finish on 193/8 but England managed to knock off the target for the loss of just two wickets.

Opener Graeme Fowler ended on 78*, while David Gower (48) and Allan Lamb (48*) helped England ease to the win with nearly ten overs to spare.

18 June 1983 (Manchester)

England won by 7 wickets

Just five days later, England made it a hat-trick of World Cup wins against Pakistan in very similar circumstances to their meeting at Lord’s.

Pakistan batted first and ended up with a total of 232/8, thanks mainly to 67 from Javed Miandad and 42* from Ijaz Faqih.

Again England made light work of the chase, with Fowler picking up 69 and Chris Tavare getting 58 as the hosts got there with seven wickets to spare.

12-13 October 1987 (Rawalpindi)

Pakistan won by 18 runs

Pakistan got their first World Cup victory over England at the fourth time of asking, on home soil in Rawalpindi.

The hosts batted first and reached 239/7 from 50 overs.

Leg-spinner Abdul Qadir was the star of the show with the ball for Pakistan, taking 4/31 as they claimed an 18-run victory.

20 October 1987 (Karachi)

Pakistan won by 7 wickets

Pakistan’s second World Cup win over England came hot on the heels of their first, when they won by seven wickets just a week later in Karachi.

Bill Athey top-scored for England with 86 and Mike Gatting hit 60 as they reached 244/9, with Imran Khan taking 4/37 with the ball.

In reply, Ramiz Raja stole the show with a sensational 113 opening up, as Pakistan got the win with an over to spare.

1 March 1992 (Adelaide)

No-result

Pakistan had the rain to thank in Adelaide in 1992!

They were bowled out for just 74, with England opening bowler Derek Pringle ending with unbelievable figures of 3/8 from 8 overs.

However, with England 24/1 in reply, the game was abandoned after heavy rain continued to fall.

25 March 1992 (Melbourne)

Pakistan won the World Cup Final by 22 runs

After being saved by the rain in the group game clash, Pakistan sealed their most famous World Cup moment as they were crowned champions, thanks to a 22-run win over England in the 1992 Final.

Captain Imran Khan led from the front with the bat, hitting 72. He was supported by Javed Miandad (58), Inzamam-ul-Haq (42 off 35) and Wasim Akram (33 off 18).

Akram was the game-changer with the ball, as his 3/49 helped bowl England out for 227 and see Pakistan crowned world champions for the first time.

3 March 1996 (Karachi)

Pakistan won by 7 wickets

Pakistan extended their unbeaten streak against England with a 7-wicket win at the 1996 World Cup.

England put a good score of 249/9 on the board thanks to scores of 75 from Robin Smith, 66 from Michael Atherton and 52* from Graham Thorpe.

It wasn’t enough to stop Pakistan chasing it down though, as all of their top four delivered healthy returns. Aamer Sohail (42) and Saeed Anwar (71) got them off to a good start, before Ijaz Ahmed (70) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (53*) helped finish the job.

23 February 2003 (Cape Town)

England won by 112 runs

The two sides’ most recent meeting at the Cricket World Cup came 15 years ago in South Africa.

England were victorious, thanks mainly to an inspired spell of bowling from James Anderson, playing in just his 12th ODI.

Michael Vaughan (52) and Paul Collingwood (66) helped England set a target of 247, before Anderson’s 4/29 from 10 overs helped skittle Pakistan for just 134.

England and Pakistan meet for a 10th time at the ICC Cricket World Cup at Trent Bridge on Monday 3 June 2019. Which side will be first to make it to five wins?

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