'Pakistan I am sure are not as bad': Afridi reacts after Pakistan's dismal loss to inexperienced England in 1st ODI

England vs Pakistan: Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has reacted on Pakistan's poor performance in the opening match with a tweet. It was a message of reassurance from the 2009 World T20 winner, who asked the team to leave this performance behind quickly.

Pakistan started their limited overs tour of England with a pathetic performance on Thursday as Babar Azam's side were soundly beaten by 9 wickets in the first ODI in Cardiff by Ben Stokes-led England.

File photo of Shahid Afridi of Pakistan (Getty Images)

Pakistan's defeat looks poorer because it has come against a new look England team, which was assembled just two days before the match as some of the regular players tested positive for coronavirus along with staff members, while the others had to self isolate as a result of the infections.

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has reacted on Pakistan's poor performance in the opening match with a tweet. It was a message of reassurance from the 2009 World T20 winner, who asked the team to leave this performance behind quickly.

"We should forget this match as soon as possible! Pakistan I am sure are not as bad, come on boys let's fightback strong at Lord's on Saturday. Well played England, that was a top performance from a new look side," Afridi wrote on Twitter.

Opener Fakhar Zaman added 47 runs at the top of the order and Shadab Khan score a fighting 30 down the order but apart from that there were no meaningful contributions as Pakistan were bowled out for 141 after being asked to bat first.

Saqib Mahmood was the best performer with the ball for England, picking up four wickets.

Pakistan's bowling was equally disappointing as the duo of Dawid Malan and Zak Crawley hit unbeaten half centuries to take England home with 9 wickets in hand.