He smashed five fours and two sixes from just 25 balls with a display of power and invention which would have done even Buttler proud. It’s JAson Roy, who falld for 29 after being cheekily caught behind by Sarfaraz Ahmed, and it’s Afridi again who delivers another breakthrough.
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Paceman Chris Woakes held his nerve in the final over to give England a hard-fought three-run win in the second Twenty20 worldwide over Pakistan in Dubai on Friday.
After playing a match-winning innings in England’s T20 victory in the first game, of three, against Pakistan, Sam Billings says it is something he always dreamed about doing.
Jos Buttler, Joe Root, David Willey and Chris Woakes are back in the side, with Buttler leading the side as Eoin Morgan, along with Chris Jordan, Moeen Ali and Reece Topley, have been rested.
He brought himself on inside the powerplay – and struck immediately when Alex Hales went back and aimed to leg, but missed one that skidded on to be lbw to the leg-spinner’s first ball.
Twenty20 International novices Sam Billings and James Vince helped England go 1-0 up on Pakistan with a 14-run win at the Dubai International Stadium.
Two boundaries and a six from Vince England past 100.
After Morgan won the toss and England stumbled to 19 for three, it seemed they may pay for the surprise omissions of two first-choice batsmen.
Liam Plunkett, who had not taken part in a competitive match on the tour until his three wickets in the first T20, was man of the match for his 3-33.
Pakistan made two changes to their eleven, the duo of Shoaib Malik and Ahmed Shehzad recovered from their injury and illness respectively to take the field in the must-win game for the hosts.
That tournament is commonly viewed as a poor relation to the Indian Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash, both of them later additions to a format pioneered in England but ones which attract higher-profile worldwide players.
Large crowds, unlike for the three-match Test series here, are expected as the ex-pat Pakistani community shows its love for white-ball cricket. “We did not play our greatest, Afridi performed as exclusively he can however we obtained over the road”, stand-in captain Buttler stated.
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He said: “We were second in the world [in the Twenty20 table at the start of the series], but we are maybe lacking in fitness”. At once Pakistan were in deep trouble as 7 wickets were fallen at the team score of 75, but the tail enders Anwar Ali (20), Sohail Tanvir(25 not out) and Wahab Riaz(21) scored some runs with impressive strike rate saved Pakistan from humiliation.
