Joe Root helps England to 250

 Root helps England to 250

  

Joe Root and a gritty 57 from Gary Ballance helped England reach 250 for eight in their second and final last World Cup warm-up game  in Sydney on Wednesday.
England won the toss and chose to bat first in sunny conditions and they made a couple of changes to the team . James Taylor and Chris Woakes did not feature in this match and Alex Hales, Gary Ballance and James Anderson came into the squad. Mohammad Irfan, who picked up 5 for 52 in their first warm-up game against Bangladesh on Monday in Sydneys Blacktown Oval.
England got off to a poor start with Moeen Ali (5) perishing to Ehsan Adil. Alex Hales and Gary Ballance, two England cricketers who had not featured in ODIs for a long time, now had a task of pushing the team forward. Hales, who last featured in the ODI series against Sri Lanka in December 2014 and was not picked for the tri-series, struggled with his timing and failed to pick up the gaps while Ballance, who was playing in his first competitive game since September 2014, looked steady.
left-hander, who was picked in the ODI side following Alastair Cook's departure, did not feature in the tri-series due to a fractured finger, got off the mark only in his 10th delivery and got going with two fours off Adil in the ninth over of the innings.
The 64-run stand for the second wicket was broken when Hales (31) chipped a Shahid Afridi delivery straight to Sohaib Maqsood at midwicket. Joe Root joined Ballance and both progressed smoothly.
  Ballance scored a solid fifty and this knock puts him in a good position to feature in the opening fixture against Australia in Melbourne on February 14.
However, Yasir Shah, who started his Test career with 27 wickets in five Tests in the UAE against Australia and New Zealand in October-November 2014, dented England's progress. Ballance perished for 57 as he hit a slog sweep straight to Maqsood at deep square leg. Three balls later, he accounted for skipper Eoin Morgan with a full toss as the left-hander lap-swept it straight to Younis Khan at first slip. Ravi Bopara, who came into the match with his place in scrutiny, failed to make it count and was bowled for 11 by a straight delivery that zipped through.
 157 for 5, Root dug in and rotated the strike but Pakistan continued to chip away with Sohail Khan yorking Jos Buttler for 13. Chris Jordan came in and survived a couple of run-out chances on eight. He proceeded to smash a six and a four off Afridi as England eyed a score in excess of 250.
  Sohail conceded just five runs in the 49th over and got the wicket of Root for 85 with the batsman's attempted reverse paddle landing in short third man's hands. Wahab Riaz conceded just five runs in the final over as England failed to finish the innings on a high.