punishing Pakistan
PAK vs ENG 1st T20I: The resurgence of Hales and England’s pursuit
PAK vs ENG 1st T20I: Alex Hales won the game for England with a fifty-run knock in his first international encounter since March 2019, which took place in Karachi. The target England was chasing was only 159 runs. The visitors took the lead in the grueling seven-game series with this victory by a score of six wickets.
Hales’ inclusion in the team was necessitated by Jonny Bairstow’s injury, which he sustained while playing golf. On his first inning back, Hales recorded a perfect game. The opener hit 53 runs off of 40 balls, his sixth Twenty20 International fifty that included seven fours, and put his team up for a nearly faultless chase.
Hales shared 55 runs for the fourth wicket with Harry Brook, who excelled with an unbeaten 42 off of 25 balls, before he was bounced out by Haris Rauf in the 17th over. Brook had an unbeaten 42 off of 25 balls. But by that point, it was already too late for Pakistan, who earlier in the day had been struggling with the bat.
PAK vs ENG 1st T20I: The promising beginning made by Pakistan…
The home team got off to a blazing start thanks to Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, who combined to score 51 runs during the Power Play. As a result, the hosts reached 85 without loss in just 57 balls. In the midst of that, Rizwan scored his 17th T20I fifty and also became the man who reached 2000 T20I runs the joint-fastest (in 52 innings).
PAK vs ENG 1st T20I: How did Pakistan only score 158 points in the end?
Shortly after Rizwan reached his fifty, England struck back with a googly bowled by Adil Rashid, which sent Babar back on 31 off of 24. And Pakistan’s progress came to a grinding halt as a direct result of that. They scored 87 runs for one wicket in the first ten overs, and then 71 runs for six wickets in the final ten.
The removal of Babar in the tenth over significantly stifled Pakistan’s momentum, which led to an increase in the number of wickets that were taken after that.
Within the first 11 balls, England was able to take three wickets, including that of Rizwan, who was out stumped when Moeen Ali tricked him in the air and got him out.
Iftikhar Ahmed’s score of 28 runs off 17 balls was the only thing that kept Pakistan from falling short of the target of 150 when youngster Luke Wood (3 for 24) and veteran Rashid (2 for 27) were picking up wickets.
PAK vs ENG 1st T20I: Was there no way back for Australia in England’s second innings?
Not exactly. Pakistan managed to keep the game interesting by taking regular wickets, but at the same time, they allowed a few too many runs to score. The starts from Philip Salt, Dawid Malan, and Ben Duckett were all culled as a result of some fine bowling and fielding, but Hales played a significant role in ensuring that the scoreboard remained active.
Following Dahani’s dismissal of Salt in the Powerplay, Usman Qadir drew Pakistan right back into the game by getting the wickets of Malan and Duckett. However, Brook and Hales then really took off, which resulted in Pakistan losing the game.
