Cricket World Cup thriller but England skipper Eoin Morgan left 'bitterly disappointed' by defeat to Pakistan

Root’s 107 was the first ton of the tournament and Buttler was in irresistible form with 103 in 76 balls but both men fell before the finishing line, with Pakistan closing out a 14-run victory.

England skipper Eoin Morgan was able to appreciate what a good game it was despite the final result going against his team.

He said: ‘It was a very good game of cricket and a great advertisement for the tournament.

‘We're bitterly disappointed to be on the wrong end of the result though.

‘Trent Bridge is a high scoring ground, we felt the wicket was good, the outfield was rapid and we thought if we got partnerships going, 350 was in our grasp.

‘Joe and Jos kept us in the game.

‘If we could have got a substantial partnership earlier, we might have got over the line.’

A target of 349 invited England to go where no other team had gone before at this level and while their master batsmen were in charge it looked as though they could, should and then would make it two wins from two.

But both departed shortly after reaching three figures, leaving too much for the lower order to do and confirming an improbable result for opponents who lost the recent series between the sides 4-0 and were fresh from a thrashing by the West Indies.

England will rue a shocking performance in the field, a litany of errors capped by Jason Roy’s drop of Mohammad Hafeez that ended up costing 70 runs, yet Root had just as much luck when he was shelled on nine.

The 10-team format allows for setbacks such as this but England’s hopes of building a head of steam have taken an early and unexpected blow.