England defeated Pakistan by six wickets in the third one day worldwide at Sharjah to lead the four-match series 2-1.
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There were three run outs in the Pakistan innings, including that of captain Azhar Ali, who was looking comfortable on 36.
As well as Woakes, Moeen Ali did an excellent job with his spin, giving away just 30 runs from 10 overs and picking up the wicket of danger man Sarfraz Ahmed (26).
Seeking a sixth bowler in the limited-over series, Pakistan have not been able to include opener Ahmed Shehzad in the first two matches, with the scoreline reading 1-1.
Score ( Pakistan 208 runs 49.5 overs ) Vs ( England 210 rune 41 overs ).
Enter Taylor, whose lack of height has held him back at times, to play one of his most important innings for England to see them home in the company of Jos Buttler, making a return to form.
First Hafeez holed out to deep square leg off David Willey (1-45) and then Sarfraz found the substitute fielder Chris Jordan at deep mid wicket in the next over. Another two run-outs – that of Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Rizwan – and a few poor shots saw Pakistan struggle in the middle but for tailenders Wahab Riaz (33 not out) and debutant Zafar Gohar (15) who gave the team something to fight. England then lost a review when they referred a leg-before decision against Anwar Ali. Taylor and Buttler played every ball at its own merit and it went a long way in ensuring their success on Tuesday. Pakistan’s three batsmen were run out that never let Pakistan come out of trouble.
Babar Azam’s patience finally ran out in the 11th over when he dragged a short-pitched delivery from Woakes from outside the off stump into the hands of Adil Rashid at fine leg.
And he is hoping it gets worse over the course of the remaining two games against Pakistan as Eoin Morgan’s side look to build on Friday’s impressive win.
The Nottinghamshire batsman reached his half-century off 51 deliveries by swatting a low full toss from Malik down the ground for another maximum and Buttler kept up the theme to secure the match with nine overs un-bowled when he swung Iftikhar over the deep midwicket rope.
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“I’m very confident in where I’m at with my game and my position in the team, even though I’ve been changed around quite a bit in my brief time in worldwide cricket”, he said. The fourth and final is scheduled to be played at Dubai worldwide Cricket Stadium on November 20.
