Visitors successfully chase 303 as they avoid a whitewash with England winning the series 4-1.

By Abdullah Ansari (4th September, 2016)

Toss: Pakistan won the toss and chose to field.

Teams:

England: JJ Roy, AD Hales, JE Root, EJG Morgan (c), BA Stokes, JM Bairstow (wk), LA Dawson, CR Woakes, DJ Willey, CJ Jordan, MA Wood.

Pakistan: Sharjeel Khan, Azhar Ali (c), Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Umar Gul.

England Innings

England were made to bat after Azhar Ali won the toss. Alex Hales took the initiative in the earlier stages as he managed to get Mohammad Amir away for a few fours, but the left-armer once again got the better of him, as he has all summer, as the opener spooned a cutter straight to mid-on. Hasan Ali once again broke through Joe Root defences as the batsman chopped on to his stumps. Eoin Morgan hung around for a while, as he endured a major struggle against Imad Wasim, and eventually perished to a full toss as he gave the left-armer a simple return catch.

Jason Roy in the meantime continued playing his shots as he brought up a fifty at a good pace. He was ably supported by Ben Stokes, who soon got going himself. Roy, however, couldn't carry on for his hundred as a slower bouncer by Amir had him caught. Bairstow also continued in a similar manner, until he top-edged a short-ish delivery for a simple catch. Stokes continued on to an speedy fifty and was very effective in hitting down the ground until the impressive Hasan Ali had him caught going for the scoop over fine leg. He also took out Woakes with an inside edge onto his stumps as well as Willey who was caught, finishing with four wickets. England didn't manage to get too many boundaries at the death, finishing with 302.

Fall Of Wickets

1-37 (Hales, 4.5 ov)
2-64 (Root, 9.1 ov)
3-92 (Morgan, 14.3 ov)
4-164 (Roy, 27.3 ov)
5-219 (Bairstow, 37.4 ov)
6-258 (Stokes, 41.4 ov)
7-270 (Woakes, 43.2 ov)
8-274 (Dawson, 44.3 ov)
9-283 (Willey, 48.1 ov)

Pakistan Innings

Pakistan begun their chase with Sharjeel hitting one of his customary pulls for four, but England bowled better lines to him as he made just 10, before he was caught trying to clear mid-on. Azhar Ali and Babar Azam got together and played some good shots in the powerplay, specially the latter as he drilled a few boundaries through the covers. However, an angled delivery from Mark Wood saw Babar Azam's stumps rattled after making 31. Azhar Ali was also dismissed as he went for a cut and edged behind for 33.

Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz then combined for the partnership that put Pakistan on track for the win - Malik struggled initially but then got into the groove while Sarfraz soon took the initiative. Sarfraz manoeuvred the field well and also got away a good number of boundaries, while Malik played a measured innings, going for the big hits against the spinners. Sarfraz made a 73-ball 90 before he was dismissed, going for a big hit against Dawson. Malik fell in a similar manner, after making 77 off 80 balls but their partnership of 163 was the main factor behind Pakistan's win. Mohammad Rizwan played a calculated hand after the two quick dismissals, as he guided Pakistan through to the win, despite a hiccup as Nawaz was run out. Rizwan was ably supported by Imad who finished not out in the whole series as Pakistan finished with 10 balls to spare.

Fall Of Wickets

1-22 (Sharjeel Khan, 4.5 ov)
2-76 (Babar Azam, 13.3 ov)
3-77 (Azhar Ali, 13.5 ov)
4-240 (Sarfraz Ahmed, 37.4 ov)
5-256 (Shoaib Malik, 39.6 ov)
6-266 (Mohammad Nawaz, 42.2 ov)

Match Summary:

A relief for Pakistan as they avoided a humiliating 5-0 whitewash. Pakistan were better on the day as England just couldn't do well at key moments of the match. They gifted too many wickets and Pakistan also bowled very, specially Amir, Hasan and Imad. England's loss of wickets meant they couldn't finish on a high and were probably short a few runs. Pakistan's top 3, despite not contributing big scores, for once didn't put the rest of the order under pressure as they scored at a good pace and after that, Sarfraz and Malik took over. It got tense towards the finish but Rizwan and Imad showed a lot of calmness to take Pakistan across the line.

Next Game:

Only IT20 at Manchester, 7th September, 17:30 GMT.

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