England win shootout to scrape into quarter-finals

Inzamam-ul-Haq named

Pakistan's chief selector for second time

ENGLAND scraped through to the quarter-finals of the Women's World Cup with a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Nigeria despite Lauren James' red card.

Georgia Stanway fired wide with the opening penalty but Nigeria missed their next two efforts and the European champions secured their spot in the last eight when Chloe Kelly smashed in the winning kick.

In an outburst of frustration, James stamped on Michelle Alozie's back in the 87th minute after losing possession and was rightly shown a red card following a video assistant referee (VAR) review.

England were given an almighty scare but face Colombia or Jamaica next at 11:30 BST on Saturday.

It was an excruciating watch for England supporters in Brisbane as the Lionesses played 120 minutes on a knife's edge and were largely second best to Nigeria.

James' petulance meant England had to navigate extra time with 10 players, and Nigeria had their tails up following a sustained period of pressure prior to the Chelsea star's sending-off.

The nine-time African champions executed their game plan to perfection, frustrating England, causing them problems on the break and winning almost every duel.

They hit the crossbar in each half, Ashleigh Plumptre's powerful drive ricocheting off the woodwork before Uchenna Kanu's header looped over goalkeeper Mary Earps and bounced off the top of the bar.

Earps was kept busy throughout, needing to produce smart saves to deny Plumptre at her near post in the first half and later keeping out Uchenna Kanu, who had an excellent performance.

Sarina Wiegman's England side thought they had a penalty in the first half when Rachel Daly went down claiming a push by Rasheedat Ajibade, but it was overturned by VAR.

Eventually, England stumbled to the end of normal time lacking the fluidity they showed in abundance in the impressive display against China and held on to seal the deal in a shootout.

Only 24 hours earlier, back-to-back champions the USA were knocked out of the competition, and England were forced to show resilience to overcome one of their most challenging matches of Wiegman's tenure.

James' red card puts dampener on impressive tournament

In the build-up to England's last-16 tie there was plenty of praise for James, who has been simply sensational so far in Australia.

The 21-year-old stole the show in Adelaide when she scored two goals and assisted three in England's thrashing of China in their final group game.

But, as Wiegman has often reminded people, James is still young in terms of international experience, with this only her 15th appearance since making her debut a year ago.

She struggled to get on the ball in the first half as England's buildup play was slow and disconnected - a far cry from their slick attacking play against China.

As the game wore on, several England players became frustrated. They were fortunate James' stamp did not prove too costly and they showed the type of resilience that

FORMER Pakistan captain

Inzamam-ul-Haq has been appointed the chief selector of the national men's selection committee for a second time. The post had remained vacant since Haroon Rasheed quit as chief selector last month.

The selection committee, which also includes team director Mickey Arthur, head coach Grant Bradburn, and Secretary Hasan Cheema will be in charge of selecting the senior men's team and Pakistan Shaheens.

ESPNcricinfo understands Inzamam will no longer be part of the PCB's cricket technical committee, which he was appointed to last week. Inzamam, who was also chief selector from 2016 to 2019, begins his second term ahead of a crucial period for the Pakistan side. His first task will be the announcement of a squad for the three-ODI series against Afghanistan in Sri Lanka, which begins on August 22. It will be followed by the ODI Asia Cup. Those two squads will be announced by Inzamam at a press conference on August 10.

Inzamam, who named the squad for the 2019 World Cup as chief selector, will also be tasked with selecting the 2023 ODI World Cup squad. The tournament takes place in India from October 5 to November 19.

"I had a good run in the last tenure," Inzamam said.

"We had famous victories with the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 being the highlight, but my most important achievement is that around 70 to 80 per cent of the cricketers - selected back then - form the core of today's sides. That team was in transition, but this team is stable and I would not face the same challenges.

"Heading a selection committee is already a tough job in Pakistan, but it is going to be more challenging this time with the ACC Men's Asia Cup and ICC Men's Cricket World Cup around the corner followed by the tour of Australia. But, I know I can deliver in this role and I will try to do better than I did the last time. Despite the paucity of time, we will announce the best possible sides."

Inzamam had been appointed to the PCB's cricket technical committee last week alongside Mohammad Hafeez, with Misbah-ul-Haq heading it. One of the tasks the technical committee had was to appoint the national selection committees, though the PCB said the decision to appoint the chief selector was made by the board's chairman Zaka Ashraf, rather than the committee he appointed to make decisions of this nature.

"I am delighted that Inzamam-ul-Haq has agreed to head our national men's selection committee at a crucial juncture. He is a legend and has served the game with dignity," PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf said. "Inzamam's last tenure brought us success as we not only won the ICC Champions Trophy, but also unearthed some outstanding talent that continues to serve Pakistan cricket to date. I have no doubt that his new innings will add to the laurels and bring more talented cricketers to light."

While the role in the cricket technical committee was unpaid, the chief selector will be remunerated. The PCB confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that a replacement for Inzamam in the technical committee would be announced in due course.

(Cricinfo)