LONDON: Having been thoroughly tested by Pakistan during the Test series, England breezed to victory in the first ODI without much inquisition from the visitors. On a true Rose Bowl pitch, Azhar Ali’s side did not do much different from before, as they played slowly, leading to a frenzy in the final 10 overs, resulting in disaster. Despite the rain bringing an early finish to proceedings, England were always ahead of the run rate in pursuit of the visitors’ 260 for 6. Eventually, they claimed victory via Duckworth-Lewis method. Without as many aggressors, rope-clearers and match winners, Pakistan’s method doesn’t offer much for Eoin Morgan’s outfit to worry about. On the south coast, Pakistan failed to hit a single six and scored only four boundaries in their final 10 overs. Against the bounce of Liam Plunkett and skiddy pace of Mark Wood, who waited until the death overs to launch an attack, the lower order of Pakistani batting line up was badly exposed. Pakistan’s inability to cope up with pace can be observed by the fact that Plunkett and Wood are usually not included in the England’s premier pace attack. Both Chris Jordan and David Willey will expect game time at some point during this series. As latter-stage negotiators, they will make things even harder for Pakistan to get away. Whether they appear at Lord’s for the second bout of this series remains to be seen. England are 2/5 favourites for the contest regardless, with the tourists available at 2/1. Two wins in the last 11 ODIs at the Lord’s makes wince-inducing reading for the hosts, but against this Pakistani outfit, not even history can stand in the way of victory.