England bowed out of the World Cup and ushered in the end of an era as their old stagers mustered one last victory over Pakistan.
The defending champions of 2019 were making their final stand in India, their timid departure from the tournament long confirmed and the break-up of a decorated team already in motion, but managed to sign off with a 93-run win at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.
David Willey is the only member of the current squad to have formally announced his retirement – a direct consequence of being the only one without a central contract – but this is an old group, past its prime in the 50-over format and ripe for renewal.
That process will start on Sunday morning, when squads are announced for next month’s white-ball tour of the West Indies, but there was a final opportunity for this band of thirtysomething trailblazers to get over the line together and guarantee a spot in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Ben Stokes took a familiar leading role in proceedings, following up his century against the Netherlands by top-scoring with 84 – a coincidental mirror image of his score in the World Cup final four years ago – with Joe Root making 60 in a final score 337 for nine.
Pakistan were 244 all out in reply, Willey writing his own farewell as figures of three for 56 left him with exactly 100 ODI wickets. The finishing touch was applied by Chris Woakes, who made Haris Rauf his 31st victim at World Cups, breaking Sir Ian Botham’s English record.
Stokes and Root have been standard bearers for this generation and they took the chance to put on 132 in what will probably be their last partnership together outside of Test cricket.
Returning to the scene of his personal heartbreak in 2016, when Carlos Brathwaite hit him for four consecutive sixes to snatch the T20 World Cup from England’s grasp, Stokes managed to bank a few good memories of his own at the famous old ground.
After being handed a life on 10, when Shaheen Afridi spilled a return catch, he reeled off 11 boundaries and two maximums of his own. One was reminiscent of the Brathwaite assault, clubbed over long-on, but the other was a work of even greater skill and imagination.
Switching his hands against Agha Salman, he slogged a reverse-lap all the way over the ropes at deep third and tumbled the floor as he followed through.
Root’s innings was a more workmanlike affair, but after a six-game lean streak he made sure to get a score on the board. His first 58 deliveries contained only one boundary – off a wayward full toss – but he kept Stokes company and caught up a little as he went on.
In the process he became the first England batter to pass 1,000 runs in World Cup cricket and levelled former captain Eoin Morgan’s record of 55 half-centuries.
Shaheen returned to dismiss both of them before further damage was done, Stokes losing his off stump to a yorker and Root miscuing a slower ball.
Earlier, England had enjoyed their most productive powerplay of the tournament as Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow piled on 72 without loss. Malan’s 31 took his tally for the tournament to 404 – a hundred clear of his nearest challenger – and Bairstow’s 59 was his best of the trip. But amid the clamour for change it is hard to see either man with a long-term role in the ODI setup.
Change is coming and neither 36-year-old Malan nor 34-year-old Bairstow, with a Test career to serve and a major leg break in his recent past, may be able to resist.
The last 10 overs there were suitably chaotic, with 97 runs scored, seven wickets falling and five sixes peppering the stands. Jos Buttler (27 in 18 balls), Harry Brook (30 in 17) and Willey (15 off five) were among those to play their part.
Pakistan had arrived with a tiny chance of reaching the semi-finals but needed to bat first to keep it even faintly realistic. By the time they began their chase all hope had gone.
But there was still time for Willey, who has enjoyed an unlikely lap of honour since announcing his retirement in the midst of England’s losing streak, to produce on his last turn with the new ball.
He had Abdullah Shafique lbw with an inswinger in his first over and the dangerous power-hitter Fakhar Zaman caught on the charge in his second.
Pakistan’s most reliable duo held things up with a 51-run stand but Babar Azam dragged a Gus Atkinson bouncer straight to short midwicket and Mohammed Rizwan was clean bowled by sharp turn from Moeen Ali.
That was the first of four successive wickets to spin as Moeen and Adil Rashid played tricks on a wearing pitch. Willey and Woakes were both able to celebrate their landmarks as England secured seventh in the table, Stokes settling underneath the match-winning catch.
Root surpasses Cook to become England's all-time leading Test run scorer
Joe Root has become England's record run scorer in Tests, overtaking Alastair Cook.
Root broke Cook's record of 12,472 runs when he moved onto 71 against Pakistan with a sublime drive for four.
That moved Root onto 12,473 runs, making him England's outright leading scorer in Test cricket.
The former Test captain, who made his debut in December 2012, has played 147 matches in the longest format, batting in 268 innings in total. He has been not out on 22 occasions.
His high score is 254, which came against Pakistan.
By the time he hit his record-breaking boundary, Root had plundered 34 centuries, 65 half-centuries and struck 1,349 fours and 44 sixes. He has been dismissed for a duck 12 times.
He has scored more runs against India (2,846) than against any other team, with Australia (2,428) his next favourite opponent. Root's high score in 55 innings against India is 218.
In comparison, Cook ended his illustrious career with a Test average of 45.35 and a high score of 294, which came against India, who he scored 4,431 runs against in total.
However, Australia were Cook's favourite team to bat against when it came to run scoring – he tallied up 2,493 against them, albeit his highest average came against West Indies (57.96 – 1,739 runs scored total in 35 innings).
Cook, who hit just 11 sixes but struck 1,442 fours, batted for 291 innings across 161 matches, and has gone unbeaten on 16 occasions. His strike rate was 46.95, while he hit 33 centuries and 57 half-centuries. He was only dismissed for a duck nine times.
Jack Grealish believes he should have been in England's Euro 2024 squad
Jack Grealish thinks that he should have been part of England's Euro 2024 squad.
Grealish was initially called up for the Three Lions' 33-man training squad, but was one of seven players who did not make the final squad for Germany.
England reached the final, losing 2-1 to Spain.
The 29-year-old has been back in the fold under interim manager Lee Carsley, and impressed in September's Nations League matches against the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
"I will be honest with you, I didn’t really agree with it," Grealish told BBC Radio 5 Live of Gareth Southgate's decision not to include him among the final 26 players.
"You need a bit of a balance in every position on the pitch and I class myself [as] quite an experienced player now.
"I have won a lot of stuff now so, you asked me should I have gone, yes, I still think I should have, but obviously it wasn't meant to be."
Grealish started just 10 league matches for Manchester City in the 2023-24 season, scoring three goals and providing one assist.
While he admitted that he "didn’t have the best season" domestically, he was left "devastated" by his omission and said that missing out on Euro 2024 was "probably the most difficult period of my life".
Grealish scored in England's 2-0 victory over Ireland in Dublin last month, and will be hoping for more of the same against Greece and Finland in the coming week.
Asked if he felt he had a point to prove, Grealish made it clear that he wanted to show people what England were missing at Euro 2024.
"Of course, I wanted to come here and train well and play well," he said.
"I thank Lee Carsley for giving me that chance and having that trust in me.
"It obviously really meant a lot. I think throughout my career when I have played under managers who have shown trust in me and communicated with me the way he has the last two camps, it really helps me.
"It makes me feel that the manager really does rate me and I can't speak highly enough of him since I have been here."
Palmer named England's Men's Player of the Year
Cole Palmer has been named England's Men's Player of the Year for 2023-24.
Chelsea star Palmer came off the bench to score in the Euro 2024 final, although England ultimately lost 2-1 to Spain in Berlin.
Palmer has only nine caps to his name, and just two starts for the Three Lions, but he finished ahead of Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka in the public vote.
The 22-year-old made his debut in a 2-0 win over Malta in November of last year, and has scored two international goals, including that strike against Spain in July.
Palmer is the first Chelsea player to scoop the award since Ashley Cole in 2010.
Since he joined Chelsea from Manchester City last season, Palmer has directly contributed to 44 league goals (28 goals, 16 assists).
Of players to feature in Europe's top five leagues, his England team-mate Harry Kane has provided more goal contributions (53 - 41 goals, 12 assists) in that time.
Earlier this season, Palmer became the first player to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League match when he scored all of Chelsea's goals in a 4-2 win over Brighton.
Palmer is expected to feature when England take on Greece in the Nations League on Thursday.
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