The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Big hitting by Morgan helps England see off Pakistan
Eoin Morgan took centre stage as live cricket returned to terrestrial television, the England captain clubbing 66 off 33 balls to help his side to a fivewicket win over Pakistan in the second T20 international.
In pursuit of 196, Jonny Bairstow and Tom Banton laid the foundations with a 66-run partnership and, although they departed in the space of two balls, Morgan flayed six fours and four sixes to keep the momentum going.
He was dismissed with 18 required in the last three overs but Dawid Malan, the junior partner in a 112-run union with Morgan, went to another 50 to help England over the line with five balls to spare at Emirates Old Trafford.
Malan’s unbeaten 54 in 36 balls – his seventh 50-plus score in 12 T20 innings– helped England move into a 1-0 lead on a day when the BBC screened live coverage of a cricket match for the first time in 21 years.
Pakistan’s 195 for four, bolstered by 56 from 44 balls from captain Babar Azam and a more belligerent 69 from 36 deliveries by Mohammad Hafeez, was in vain and they now must win tomorrow to avoid a series defeat.
On the same pitch that was used for Friday’s abandoned game, England won the toss.
Fakhar Zaman’s downfall for 36 off 22 balls in a 72-run opening stand failed to stem the flow of runs, and Hafeez went past 2,000 T20 international runs.
England reached 65 without loss after six overs but their openers departed off successive Shadab Khan deliveries, Bairstow for 44 off 24 balls while Banton was lbw for 20.
Malan had been happy to defer to his captain but hammered Shadab for six before Morgan reached a 27-ball fifty by creaming Shaheen over the same area while three successive fours later in the over left England needing just 34 in the final five overs.