Minhas’s Career-Best Six Wickets Power Pakistan to 87-Run Win Over England in Rawalpindi

The match in brief

Pakistan defeated England by 87 runs in the second match of the ODI tri-series at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, completing a remarkable turnaround in a game that seemed to be slipping away at several stages. The victory, built on the all-round brilliance of 21-year-old Arafat Minhas, lifted Pakistan above Australia to fourth place in the ICC men’s ODI team rankings, according to Geo Super.

England, chasing 303 for victory, had looked firmly in control at 91 without loss inside 15 overs. What followed was a collapse of startling speed: the tourists lost their last seven wickets for just 50 runs and were bowled out for 215 in 38.4 overs, according to reports from The Times and Cricket Australia’s official site.

Minhas was the central figure in every phase of Pakistan’s victory. He walked to the crease with his side wobbling at 81 for four, scored a maiden ODI half-century of 59 from 58 balls, and then produced a career-best six for 40 with his left-arm spin to demolish England’s chase. He even sealed the win himself with a direct-hit run out of Gus Atkinson, completing an extraordinary personal performance.

Pakistan recover from 81 for four

England captain Harry Brook won the toss and chose to bowl first, a decision influenced by the expectation that dew would arrive later in the evening, according to Cricket Australia’s report. It briefly looked like a good call. Gus Atkinson struck with the very first ball of the match, having Fakhar Zaman caught by Joe Root for a duck — continuing what one report described as Pakistan’s “platinum duck” theme from their recent Test series — and England’s seamers kept a tight grip on proceedings.

Pakistan crawled to 81 for four in the 19th over. Babar Azam was bowled through the gate by Will Jacks for 34, while Saim Ayub and Agha Salman fell to cross-batted shots, according to The Times. The innings was in danger of petering out well below par.

The recovery was built on two innings of contrasting style. Hasan Nawaz, the aggressive top-order batter, belted four sixes and five fours in his 79 from 74 balls. Arafat Minhas played the more measured hand at first — a resourceful 59 from 58 deliveries featuring nine boundaries — before opening his shoulders late. Faheem Ashraf then provided the finish, smashing 39 from just 26 balls as Pakistan added 91 runs in the final ten overs to reach 302 for nine.

England had their chances to prevent the late surge. According to Cricket Australia’s match report, Atkinson spilled Nawaz on 30 in the deep, and stand-in wicketkeeper Jordan Cox missed a more difficult chance to dismiss Arafat when he was on just 12. Those misses cost England dearly: the two reprieved batters added the backbone of a total that ultimately proved well beyond reach.

England’s chase falls apart in clumps

The early signs suggested the chase would be straightforward. Tom Banton, continuing a rich vein of ODI form, and Ben Duckett navigated the early movement from Pakistan’s much-vaunted pace attack and began at more than six an over. Banton twice pulled Naseem Shah for six, and Duckett dealt in his trademark sweeps and reverse sweeps as the pair put on 91 for the first wicket, according to The Times.

Duckett’s dismissal for 45 — bouncing out to Haris Rauf, caught at deep fine leg — opened the door, and Minhas then pushed it wide open. The 21-year-old left-arm spinner, playing only his fifth one-day international, turned the game in a single passage of play. He dismissed the in-form Banton for 57, then produced the ball of the day to breach the defences of Brook for five, according to multiple reports.

Once the partnership between Joe Root (33) and Sam Curran (27) was broken — worth 31 from 57 balls after England had slipped to 128 for three — the rest capitulated. Minhas removed Will Jacks for 19 and Adil Rashid for one from successive deliveries, finding himself on a hat-trick in the 39th over, before Jamie Overton (one) holed out to long-on. Jordan Cox fell leg-before for 18, and two balls after the Jacks dismissal, Minhas ran out Atkinson for seven with a direct hit to complete the formalities, as reported by Capital FM.

England collapsed from 197 for five to 215 all out — their last seven wickets falling for just 50 runs — long before the anticipated dew could become a factor, according to Cricket Australia’s account. It was a chastening defeat for a side that had won its last three bilateral ODI series.

Brook was frank about the failure afterwards. “The story of the innings was not enough partnerships and losing wickets in clumps,” he said, as quoted in Cricket Australia’s report. “We didn’t manage to put their bowlers under enough pressure to make them miss and that’s something we’ll talk about.”

A rare double: fifty and six wickets

Minhas’s figures of six for 40 were a career best, but it was the combination of his batting and bowling that made the day special. He became only the third Pakistan player in history to score a half-century and take a five-wicket haul in the same one-day international, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board’s official match notes quoted by The Oldham Times.

The achievement is all the more remarkable given his inexperience: Minhas made his ODI debut only five months ago, has not played a Test for Pakistan, and had never before reached fifty in a one-day international. On Tuesday he produced both milestones in the space of a few hours.

His dismissal of Brook was the standout moment — the England captain beaten through his defences by a delivery of real quality — but his control of the middle overs was just as valuable. England’s batters, who had looked so fluent against pace, never solved his left-arm spin, and by the end he was involved in each of the final five wickets to fall.

Analysis: Why It Matters

A star announces himself on the biggest stage

Pakistani cricket has a long tradition of young all-rounders arriving seemingly from nowhere to seize a match by the scruff of the neck, and Arafat Minhas has now written himself into that lineage. To do it against England — and in only his fifth ODI — gives the performance a weight that will follow him for the rest of his career.

The rarity of the double is worth underlining. Scoring a fifty and taking five wickets in the same ODI is a feat that demands excellence in two disciplines that rarely peak together in a single day. That Minhas is only the third Pakistani to achieve it places him in genuinely elite company, and it transforms the conversation about him from “promising youngster” to “genuine match-winner.” The selectors’ faith in handing a 21-year-old such responsibility has been emphatically repaid, and he will now be one of the first names on the teamsheet for the remainder of this tri-series and beyond.

England’s old disease returns at the worst moment

For all the progress England’s white-ball side has made — three consecutive bilateral ODI series wins coming into this tournament — Tuesday exposed a fragility that has haunted them for years: the tendency to lose wickets in clumps. Brook’s own phrase, “wickets in clumps,” is telling. It was an honest admission from a captain who watched his side go from cruising to catastrophe within the space of a dozen overs.

The contrast between the two innings is instructive. Pakistan, 81 for four, found two players to take responsibility and rebuild; England, 91 without loss, found nobody to arrest the slide once Minhas struck. The middle order’s inability to absorb pressure against spin is a concern that predates this tour, and with the World Cup cycle now underway, England’s batters will know that opponents will study this collapse closely. The return of Jacob Bethell from a knee injury for next month’s Australia tour may shake up the batting order, but the structural problem — a middle order that folds rather than fights — will not be fixed by personnel changes alone.

Fourth in the world: Pakistan’s quiet rebuild gains momentum

The rankings dimension gives this result significance beyond a single evening. By beating England and Sri Lanka back to back, Pakistan have climbed above Australia to fourth in the ICC men’s ODI team rankings with 103 rating points, according to Geo Super, with South Africa third on 104, New Zealand second on 109 and India top on 115.

This matters for a concrete reason: the top eight ranked sides gain automatic qualification for the 2027 ODI World Cup. Pakistan’s steady accumulation of rating points in this tri-series is not just about prestige — it is about securing a smooth path to the sport’s showpiece event without the anxiety of a qualifying tournament. After a difficult period in which the side dropped down the order, the climb back to fourth represents a genuine rebuild bearing fruit.

There is also the matter of momentum. Pakistan have now successfully defended totals of more than 300 in consecutive games, something that requires both batting depth and bowling discipline. Shaheen Afridi’s captaincy is beginning to look assured, the young batters are delivering, and the spin department — led on this occasion by a 21-year-old — looks increasingly potent. This is a side growing in confidence at home.

England’s tournament is suddenly on the line

The tri-series format is unforgiving. With each team playing the others twice and only the top two reaching the final in Lahore on October 31, England’s opening defeat means their campaign is effectively in a shoot-out with Sri Lanka, whom they face on Thursday at the same Rawalpindi venue, according to The Times.

That match is now close to a knockout game for the tourists. Lose it, and England would likely need to win both remaining fixtures — and probably do so handsomely — to have any chance of reaching the final. Brook’s side arrived in Pakistan as the team in form, fresh from dominating the Test series here last month; they now find themselves under real pressure within 48 hours of their first match. How they respond on Thursday will tell us a great deal about the character of this squad.

What to Watch Next

1. England vs Sri Lanka on Thursday: A virtual knockout for England in Rawalpindi. Sri Lanka began the tournament with a 37-run defeat to Pakistan on Sunday, so both sides are desperate. Brook must decide whether to shake up his batting order — and whether England can solve their spin problem in two days.
2. Minhas’s encore: After the most complete all-round performance of the young season, every eye will be on whether the 21-year-old can back it up. Opposition teams will now plan specifically for him, which is the truest test of a breakout star.
3. Pakistan’s march to the final: Two wins from two has Pakistan all but assured of a place in the October 31 final in Lahore. The remaining group games become an opportunity to rotate, experiment and build squad depth ahead of the World Cup cycle.
4. The ICC rankings race: Pakistan sit fourth on 103 rating points, just one behind South Africa. Further wins in this tri-series could close that gap, while Australia will be watching nervously from fifth.
5. Brook’s response: England’s captain was admirably candid about the “wickets in clumps” problem. Whether his side can translate that honesty into a disciplined batting performance on Thursday will define their tour.

Sources

• The Times — “Sloppy England punished by inspired spinner Arafat Minhas”
• Cricket Australia — “England off to sorry start in ODI tri-series”
• Geo Super — “Pakistan overtake Australia in ICC ODI team rankings after England win”
• Capital FM — “England slump to defeat against Pakistan in ODI tri-series”