Cricket Spinners star as England level Twenty20 series against Pakistan
ENGLAND spun their way to success in the second Vitality Twenty20 against Pakistan as a 45-run win squared the series at 1-1.
Having broken with tradition by including Adil Rashid and Matt Parkinson as twin leg-spinners at Headingley, England saw the pair seize control of the match with a defining spell which slammed the breaks on Pakistan’s chase.
Between them the duo allowed just 55 runs and took three wickets from eight controlled overs, backed up by Moeen Ali’s off-breaks which accounted for another two batters.
The tourists were eventually stranded on 155-9, well short of England’s 200 all out. Jos Buttler played a defining hand in the first innings, top-scoring with 59 after returning as captain in place of the rested Eoin Morgan.
The first T20 international in Leeds started with an actionpacked first over, Jason Roy smashing Imad Wasim for six and four before spiralling a catch to short third man.
Imad capitalised by picking up
Dawid Malan for one on the sweep, leaving Buttler and Moeen with some early rebuilding work ahead. They warmed instantly to the task, scoring 19 apiece off the fifth and sixth overs.
Buttler scooped Mohammad Hasnain over his shoulder for an outrageous six, before pinging a pair of more traditional strokes between third man and cover. Not to be outdone, Moeen swung hard at Haris Rauf, picking the gaps expertly to pocket four boundaries in the blink of an eye.
A powerplay total of 66-2 represented a strong recovery and Moeen kept the crowd catchers in business with a huge smear off Shadab Khan. He eventually fell for 36 off just 16 balls, popping Hasnain to mid-off, but Buttler’s consistent scoring and the arrival of Liam Livingstone kept the tempo red hot.
Fresh from scoring England’s fastest ever century at Trent Bridge, Livingstone clubbed his fourth delivery for six before he and Buttler took turns heaving Imad into the stands in the 13th over. Pakistan needed wickets to halt the march and Hasnain grabbed a key one when Buttler drilled straight to mid-off.
Jonny Bairstow came and went cheaply on his home ground and Livingstone was messily run out for 38, a few seconds after launching Rauf destructively over the newly developed Football Stand. The lower order managed another 35 off the last four overs, but lost Tom Curran, Rashid, Chris Jordan and Parkinson to the cause.
The chase started steadily, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan chipping off 50 with controlled flashes of aggression. Babar, as always, was the prize scalp and it was Saqib Mahmood who claimed it. Dragging back his length and taking pace off after being hit over the top, he saw an attempted drive plug to mid-off.
Rashid and Parkinson proceeded to strangle the run-rate, killing the tempo as their first six overs allowed a stingy 35.
Rashid took a brilliant caught and bowled to dismiss Rizwan, and the errors kept coming from Pakistan. Moeen accounted for Mohammad Hafeez and Fakhar Zaman in quick succession to tighten England’s grip on the game.