Pakistani-origin Muslim cricketers propel England to victory in historic match

Pakistani cricket players for England made history on Sunday as they beat South Africa by two wickets on the third and final one-day international.

For the first time ever, three Muslims, all three of whom are of Pakistani-Kashmiri origin, were part of the eleven-member English cricket team: Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Saqib Mahmood.

Not only did the Pakistani players demonstrate their impressive skills against South Africa on Sunday, but in a separate match against Bangladesh when fast bowler Naseem Shah, 17, became the youngest player to claim a test hat-trick.

“Getting a hat-trick in front of your home crowd is special. I want to thank the fans and will continue to give my best for the country," Naseem said.

The home team were given hope when England lost four wickets for the addition of 20 runs as Lungi Ngidi (3-63) recovered from a poor start to rattle the visitors.

But Ali (17 from 16 balls) provided the steadying hand for England to seal the win.

"We thought it was getting tight and we had a bit of a sniff," De Kock said. "It was cool to make it tough for the English guys.

"Our energy has stood out, we've got a young team but they had a lot of energy on the field and I enjoyed that."