Category: Sports

Pakistan eye series win against England in T20 final today.

Lahore (NUT-Desk)

Pakistan have to fight back to take the T20I series from England when both teams meet tonight at Old Trafford, Manchester to play the third and final match.

Both teams have won one match each – Pakistan by 31 runs in the first match at Nottingham on Friday and England by 45 runs in the second at Leeds on Sunday.

Pakistan still has a chance to win the T20I series and take revenge from England after going through a humiliating clean sweep in the three-match ODI series.

Pakistan have always been ahead of other countries in this shortest format of cricket by playing the most T20Is and winning the most number of matches. They have played 172 T20I matches so far, while no other country has played even 150 matches.

Similarly, Pakistan is the only country in the world to record one hundred or more victories as they have won 105 games so far in this format.

Unfortunately, they do not have an impressive record against England in T20 International cricket as they have won only six matches out of 12 against England, with one match tied and one with no result.

Despite having a batting powerhouse, consisting of young and energetic players along with experienced allrounder Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan depend only on their skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Both batsmen are displaying good form.

Pakistan also have a battery of fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain and Haris Rauf and the services of good spinners Shadab Khan and Usman Qadir, but they have not been lucky enough to bowl to give a tough time to the opponents. Now, both teams are facing each other in their 21st mutual Twenty20 International tonight and it will be an interesting encounter.

England’s stand-in skipper Jos Buttler top-scored with 59 before their spinners ripped through the Pakistan batting unit to seal a 45-run win in the second Twenty20 International and level the series at 1-1 on Sunday.

Chasing 201 runs to win at Headingley, Pakistan’s openers made a bright start with the bat but lost their way after England fast bowler Saqib Mahmood dismissed captain Babar Azam (22) in the sixth over.

England tightened their grip in the middle overs as leg-spinner Adil Rashid removed Mohammad Rizwan and Sohaib Maqsood in his second spell. Off-spinner Moeen Ali removed Mohammad Hafeez and Fakhar Zaman cheaply as Pakistan were left tottering at 95-5.

Azam Khan was stumped off Matt Parkinson’s leg-break, before Mahmood returned to rip through the lower order and restrict the tourists to 155-9 in 20 overs.

Earlier, Buttler marked his return to the national team with his 14th T20I fifty as England were bowled out for 200 with a ball to spare. Buttler was declared fit after a calf injury and took the captaincy as Eoin Morgan chose to rest himself in a bid to rotate his squad ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup. After the hosts lost Jason Roy and Dawid Malan in the opening three overs, Buttler and Ali restored order with a brisk 67-run partnership.

Ali eventually fell for 36, scooping fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain to mid-off, but Buttler accelerated the England run rate alongside the hero of the last match Liam Livingstone. Buttler picked out mid-off for Hasnain’s second wicket of the innings, but Livingstone, fresh from scoring England’s fastest ever hundred, went on to produce another entertaining innings for the home supporters.

Livingstone managed the biggest hit of the day, tonking Haris Rauf’s delivery straight over the newly built Football Stand. The right-handed batsman was run out for 38 off 23 balls before the lower order added another 35 off the last four overs to take England’s score to 200 for the second consecutive game — this time to secure victory.

Both teams now head to Manchester for the series decider on Tuesday.

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