Eoin Morgan has tipped the "relentless attitude" of Jonny Bairstow to come to the fore on Wednesday as England make one change to their batting lineup for the Champions Trophy semi-final with Pakistan in Cardiff.
However, in a spell of left-arm seam bowling which at times was reminiscent of Wasim Akram, Mohammad Amir and Junaid turned the game on its head.
"Going into today's game knowing that we were going to play on a used wicket potentially brought Pakistan's game closer to their home", said Morgan.
For Pakistan, the star of the day was Hasan Ali, who picked up three crucial wickets and contributed to England's sluggish run rate.
Adil Rashid was run out for seven trying to pinch a quick single and Ben Stokes, one of the most destructive batsmen in the world, took 30 deliveries to reach 10 and failed to hit a boundary in a scratchy 34 before skying Hasan to Hafeez.
The second semi-final will be played between India, who topped Group B, and Bangladesh, the second-placed Group A team, on June 15th at Edgbaston, in Birmingham.
The duo shared four wickets for six runs in a superb 23-ball spell before their batsmen produced the goods.
Bangladesh qualified for this year's eight-nation Champions Trophy, having missed out on the last two editions, thanks to their improving fortunes in the one-day game combined with the decline of West Indies cricket.
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Once again the introduction of new blood, Fakhar Zaman up the order, helped Sarfraz's men open the innings in a better way while Azhar Ali, however slow he maybe, helped the team to start off on the right foot.
England are aware that the Pakistani pacers are adept at exploiting helpful seaming conditions.And Sarfraz, too, knows too well the opposition they are up against.
"I think he (Amir) has a little bit of back spasm. Then Junaid Khan, Rumman Raees - all credit goes to the bowlers".
Amir took the wicket of Mathews (39), who bottom-edged a pull shot to send the ball crashing into the stumps. If both teams end with the same number of runs, they would have to play a Super Over. He is No. 7 in the ICC all-rounder rankings but had an all-round miserable game.
After a meek and meagre display in their opening match of the tournament against India, Pakistan were labelled "shambolic" and "terrible" by coach Mickey Arthur but have shone ever since.
Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez remained not out on 38 and 31, respectively.
England selectors look like they've bitten the bullet with the form of Jason Roy as he is expected to be dropped for the semi-final clash in favor of Jonny Bairstow.
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