The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
England pair turn tables
Taylor and Buttler negotiate tricky run chase for victory
Eoin Morgan was delighted after watching James Taylor and Jos Buttler negotiate a tricky run chase to give England an insurmountable lead against Pakistan in their one-day international series at the Sharjah Stadium in the United Arab Emirates.
The young pair put on an unbroken 117-run partnership to guide England past their 209 victory target with six wickets and 54 balls to spare in challenging conditions last night.
With England slipping to 93 for four, the momentum looked to have shifted in Pakistan’s favour but Taylor, in particular, negated the threat of the home spinners en route to 67 not out.
Buttler, with only 29 runs in his previous five ODI attempts, was given a life on nought when Sarfraz Ahmed missed a stumping chance, but he showed plenty of focus and fortitude to compliment Taylor and finish one run shy of a half-century.
While England have now taken an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match series, Morgan was even more pleased with the performance.
“The performance was hugely satisfying,” Morgan said. “I think one of the most pivotal things in the performance was the chase, the pitch turned a lot more than we expected it to. I thought the partnership between Buttler and Taylor was outstanding. It’s a huge step forward for us, particularly our middle order and our batting unit having absolute clarity in what we were doing and playing in the positive way in which we’re trying to improve the way we play all the time.
“Today was brilliant for us. It wasamagnificent win. We look to the next game to go on and win the series, we’ve earned the right. Hopefully we can produce another performance like today.”
While Buttler returned to some form, Taylor burnished his growing reputation. Captain Morgan added of the Nottinghamshire batsman: “Every role we’ve given him in the team so far he’s excelled in, and tonight was no different, under tricky circumstances as well.”
Taylor, for his part, was keen to highlight Buttler’s role, saying: “Jos at the other end played an exceptional role. Morgy and Hales got us off to a good start and the way Jos played at the other end was really good.”
While the tourists will now contemplate a series victory, Pakistan can reflect on a woeful display with the bat.
Three of their batsmen were run out, while four others fell to catches in the deep as they collapsed from a rather enviable 132 for two to 161 for eight before being skittled for 208.
Captain Azhar Ali said: “We had a very good start but in the middle we just lost it. We were going along very well for 270, 280, but I think the run outs plus a few mistakes in the batting, it cost us the game. We really fought back in the second half but they had one good partnership and we were 40-50 runs short.”