Johannesburg, Nov.17: James Taylor has heaped praise on his fellow batsmen for displaying an “exceptional” ability while countering Pakistan spinners in the ongoing four-match ODI series against the hosts in the United Arab Emirates.
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There was a moment, when Pakistan were 132 for 2 with more than 20 overs of their innings remaining, when it appeared a total approaching 270 was achievable.
England defeated Pakistan by six wickets in the third One-Day worldwide (ODI) to take 2-1 lead in the four-match series.
On Hales reaching three figures in an ODI for the first time, Taylor added: “He played a great knock – him and Jason Roy were outstanding at the top of the order”.
Chris Woakes (4-40) provided the initial breakthrough for England getting rid of Azam, as he mistimed a shorter delivery to Adil Rashid (0-51) at deep fine leg. Only a rearguard action from Wahab Riaz (33 not out) helped his side go past the 200 mark after being 161-8 at one stage.
With Hafeez’s early fluency checked he then clubbed David Willey, who had just been brought back into the attack, to Joe Root in the deep before Sarfraz Ahmed followed in similar style to Moeen in the next over. Three Pakistani batsmen Azhar Ali, Shoaib Malik and Muhammad Rizwan got run out.
Eng 171 for 4, 35 overs Pak were 144-5.
James Taylor has had to put up with a stiff neck after facing just 14 balls from Mohammad Irfan so far – and will be perfectly happy if the same occupational hazard returns at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Babar Azram and Azhar Ali had looked untroubled in adding 45 for the first wicket and looked set to take full advantage of winning the toss. However, the opener Ahmad Shehzad who did not play the initial two games, is likely to be the part of 11-member squad for the third ODI.
This third of four 50-over games provided controversy in the form of a spectacular collapse by Pakistan and then drama when England crashed to 93 for four chasing what should have been a comfortable target of 209.
“We always want to play a positive brand of cricket and they epitomise it, those two”.
England can win the series but cannot lose whereas Pakistan will try to level the series in the last match but cannot win it after going 1-2 down.
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“These things create problems in picking the right combination and, if there is a weak link in bowling, then you can struggle to control the flow of runs and I think that can damage the combination of the team and you have to sacrifice a player to have a better combination”.
