Hello folks! Welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of second of the three-match Twenty20 worldwide (T20I) between Pakistan and England at the Dubai Sports Complex.
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Afridi was also the pick of the Pakistan bowlers, taking 3-15.
“But Afridi came in and played as he can, and that put a lot pressure on us”.
His first maximum went through the hands of former Hampshire teammate Sohail Tanvir at long-on at the end of the 12th over.
Afridi trapped Alex Hales leg before for 11 and then had Jason Roy caught behind for 22-ball 29 (two sixes and a four) to leave England at 47-2.
Pakistan got off to a great start to their innings, thank to a mixture of great hitting and disgraceful bowling Stephen Parry made the crucial breakthrough when he produced a piece of brilliance to draw Shehzad out and he was stumped by Buttler, he made 28 from 18.
While Ali may not finish as England’s leading wicket taker, he will certainly play an integral role for the tourists in the series. Hafeez is one of the best opening batsmen on the planet and will be looking to take confidence from his 102 not out against Trevor Bayliss’ side in the opening one-day worldwide match earlier this month.
Sohail Tanvir, who top scored with 25 not out, added 25 for the eighth wicket with Anwar Ali (20) and 45 for the ninth with Wahab Riaz (21) to give England a scare but 20 runs off the last over proved too much for Pakistan’s tail.
Jos Buttler reveals his delight after watching England clinch the Twenty20 series with victory over Pakistan in Dubai.
Having dragged Pakistan back to within 25 runs of victory with two overs remaining, Afridi’s march was halted and England were able to breathe a sigh of relief as he sliced a Chris Woakes delivery to Liam Plunkett.
Billings was adjudged as the Man of the Match for his brilliant contribution with the bat.
The omission of Buttler, in particular, was surprising after he hit a 46-ball century on the same Dubai ground in the final one-day worldwide against the same opponents last week.
His 36-ball knock featured six boundaries and a six.
Pakistan’s success against Zimbabwe has contributed to their recent record, one of which Afridi is proud – albeit in the knowledge more finetuning is needed ahead of the World Twenty20 in India next year. “Besides that we are ranked number two so it’s an important series for us in many ways and we will do our best to win it”.
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‘We looked at the results of the World Cup and the brand of cricket that needs to be played to win a major competition and we’re trying to emulate that at the moment.
