The second international T20 between Pakistan and England took place yesterday, with some brutal hitting by both sides ending in a record-breaking chase by the hosts, to level up the series at 1-1. Video highlights from official rights holder, Sky Sports, are embedded below.
Babar Azam hit a monumental unbeaten 110* while his partner Mohammed Rizwan scored 88* in response to England’s 199/5, to win by 10 wickets, which sounds a lot more than the three remaining balls which show how close this exciting match was.
It could have been so different but for a couple of key moments in either innings.
Harry Brook (31) and Ben Duckett (43) both got bowled trying to play little scoop shots, on a day when the pitch wasn’t doing a lot, while Malan (0) got a golden duck, bowled round his legs by Dahani – to put the player on a hat-trick – after Hales was also bowled completely missing a ball which maybe kept a touch low on another sluggish wicket.
The pitch was true, though, and full-pitched deliveries were possible to hit over the rope, as players frequently showed, not least England’s new T20 skipper, Mo Ali, who raced to 55* off just 23 balls, to give Pakistan a very tricky chase, which looked pretty imposing.
However, when Rizwan was dropped by Hales in the deep on 23, the tide seemed to be turning. Two one-handed half-chances at catches – one on the rope from Tom Curran and one at mid-off from Mo Ali – both went to ground, as Pakistan made an unbeaten chase with just three balls to spare.
England have several senior players sitting out. Left arm quick bowler, Willey, who’s proved expensive twice on these slow pitches, will hope to find a way to either grab wickets or stem the flow of runs in these conditions. He was, however, bowling the hardest overs once more, leaking 44 runs from 3.3 overs.
On the other hand, Dawson was tight to give away just 26 from his 4 overs.
The series is tied at 1-1 with five more to play.
