England mark their return to Pakistan with historic T20I series win
England clinched the historic seven-match T20I series 4-3. Pakistan lost the seventh T20I by 67 runs which was their fourth-heaviest defeat in terms of runs.
The decider was rather a one-sided encounter compared to the first six matches of the series as Pakistan looked timid in a stiff run chase of 210. England clinched the historic seven-match T20I series 4-3. Pakistan lost the seventh T20I by 67 runs which was their fourth-heaviest defeat in terms of runs.
Asked to bat first, England openers Phil Salt (20 off 12) and Alex Hales (18 off 13) were off the blocks quickly. Both of them hit three boundaries each before getting out in a space of three balls in the fifth over. Ben Duckett (30 off 19) and Dawid Malan added 62 off just 5.2 overs before the former was dismissed by a clever bit of glovework from Mohammad Rizwan.
Duckett's wicket was the last one to fall as Malan and Harry Brook stitched an unbroken 108-run stand. Malan hit eight fours and three maximum's in his unbeaten 47-ball-78. Brook slowed down towards the middle phase of his innings but picked up the pace towards the end. He was unbeaten on 46 off 29.
In reply, Pakistan lost Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan as early as in the second over and they couldn't recover from there. Only Shan Masood (56 off 43), Khushdil Shah (25 off 23) and Iftikhar Ahmed (19 off 16) reached double figures but their strike-rates were way too low. They could manage only 142 for eight in 20 overs.
Chris Woakes was the pick of the bowlers for England with his three-for. David Willey also took a couple.