ENG vs PAK match highlights: World Record opening partnership as Pakistan level the series 1-1
Batting First
England got off to a strong start thanks to Alex Hales and Phil Salt, who both managed a few fours. England discovered the fence in each over during the powerplay. Hales and Salt weren’t always in command of their shots, but they combined scored a 42-run stand.
When Hales was removed by Shahnawaz Dahani in the final over of the powerplay, Pakistan mounted a spirited comeback.
Comeback
The first innings score of 199 by England appeared to be much above average at the time because the wicket seemed to play very slowly.
Pakistan made a brave comeback after Hales was dismissed by Shahnawaz Dahani in the last over of the powerplay.
Pakistan Bowling
Pakistani bowlers at the start were very expensive but later came back, Mohammad Hasnain who was in good form in recent days did not perform well in yesterday’s match as he gave away 51 runs in his four spells and failed to pick up a wicket. S Dhani and Haris Rauf picked up two wickets each in their spell and Nawaz picked up one wicket restricting England to 199/5 in 20 overs.
Pakistan Dominance
With three balls left, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam chased down 200 against England without losing a wicket, courtesy to their unbroken 203-run partnership that surpassed the global record.
Their savagery was deadly, but their beauty was mouthwatering.
Rizwan’s undefeated 51-ball 88 provided more than enough backing for Babar, who scored his second T20I century in 62 balls. Babar scored 110 from 66 balls.
Post-Match comments
The Pakistani skipper Babar Azam was awarded the player of the match, in the post-match interview Babar stated saying “The discussion was we can chase it down, we have done it before and that was the belief in the dressing room. The wicket always plays better under lights and it played better than we expected.”
“The discussions with Rizwan were to finish the match. I always had the belief (during the run of low scores) that you need that as a sportsman. The team always supported me and kept backing me.”
