England v Pakistan
Wisden's review of the first Semi-Final, England v Pakistan
Of all the days England could have chosen to revert to the tentative cricket that had once been their trademark, they chose the semi-final of the Champions Trophy. Pakistan, it's true, were superb: their bowling made a mockery of the old grumble about the boring middle overs, and their batsmen made a mockery of a target of 212. But England were unsettled by a used pitch - Pakistan had played on it two days earlier, winning a nail-biter against Sri Lanka - and were unable, perhaps even unwilling, to free their arms. A tally of 15 fours was their lowest in a completed innings since the 2015 World Cup; and, despite the beguiling proximity of the River Taff, they failed to hit a single six. So often England's heartbeat, Stokes batted as if he'd undergone a transplant, scoring 34 from 64 balls, and shouldering arms to deliveries he would normally have sent flying over fine leg; a quartet of twos was as extravagant as he got. In fact, the innings had begun reasonably enough.
Man of the Match: Hasan Ali.