England were cut down to size by Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and his second T20 hundred in a 10 wicket thrashing.
Azam slapped 110 not out and Mohammed Rizwan 88 not out as they overhauled their target of 200 on a Karachi pitch designed for big hitting to set a new record chase for a 10 wicket win and level the seven match series at 1-1. But that will come as cold comfort to England’s bowlers who were dispatched to all parts, as too will be the news that plenty of cash was raised for Pakistani flood victims as a result of the boundary fest.
For each six hit, 1000 dollars were donated to the Pakistan flood relief effort by the bank sponsors to go along with a generous donation from England’s players and the ECB. And with nine maximums clubbed by the Pakistan openers to match the nine struck by England, the pitch and the players certainly delivered.
For England’s bowlers and fielders though it was a night to forget as they failed to take even one Pakistani wicket during the 19.3 overs of the chase. “I thought we batted really well and got a really good score in my opinion,” said skipper Moeen Ali.
“We dropped a big catch obviously and they cashed in. The wicket played very well and we have a lot to learn, but the Pakistan openers played brilliantly and I know they get a bit of stick for their run rate, but they are terrific players.”
They should have removed Rizwan when he had made just 23 and hit Liam Dawson high up to Alex Hales at mid-on but the hero of the first match became the zero of the second. He was joined in the doghouse by Phil Salt who then missed a stumping off Adil Rashid to gift the No.1 T20 batsman in the world yet another life.
Azam is ranked No.3 and showed his class in the 13th over when he took down his opposite number Moeen Ali with two sixes before Rizwan added another to push the game commandingly their way.
Earlier England had flown out of the traps in the powerplay overs with Hales continuing his form from the first game in an opening partnership of 42 from the first five overs. And despite the loss of both Hales and Dawid Malan in successive Shahnawaz Dahani balls, both bowled, there was no let up in the rate of scoring as Ben Duckett arrived and swept Pakistan to distraction.
It was an attempted lap down on one knee that was his eventual downfall for a useful 43 from 22 balls, but it brought Moeen to the middle for the fireworks to truly begin. Both the skipper and Harry Brook found their range in a partnership of 59 thanks mainly to strong shots in front of the wicket.
But with his eye in and the ball flying, Brook tried a ramp of his own against Haris Rauf only to get bowled for 31 when he had the chance to do even more damage. Moeen collected four maximums in his 55 not out as England cosied up to 200, but in truth they should have got a few more.
