Pakistan v England, 1st T20I, Dubai – 5 Talking Points

Pakistan and England started the 3 match series with the first encounter at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. With new faces featuring in both teams, there was plenty to look forward to in this clash between the in-form young English side and the unpredictable Pakistan team led by the mercurial Shahid Afridi. Winning the toss England decided to bat first and put on a challenging 160/5. In reply, the home side crumbled under pressure and eventually lost the match by a margin of 15 runs.

1. Pakistani bowlers fail to capitalize:

Pakistan was off to a dream start with the ball picking up 3 quick wickets. Sohail Tanvir removed Jason Roy who failed to clear mid-on while Alex Hales’ leading edge off Anwar Ali was caught at the same position. Moin Ali went for a duck after wasting 6 balls becoming Tanvir’s second wicket. At 19/3 in 3.5 overs, Pakistan was in a dominant pressure and England under tremendous pressure. This was the last moment of joy for Pakistan since they failed to contain the batsmen after this. Wahab Riaz and Afridi conceded above 8 runs per over while Imran Khan went for nearly 11 runs per over. Anwar Ali was the most economical one with figures of 1/19 from his 4 overs.

2. Vince Shows his class on debut:

James Vince, on a T20I debut, showed great composure in a well made 41 off 36 which included 6 elegant fours and 1 six. He stabilized the innings when his team it the most after losing 3 quick wickets. He came into bat in the 3rd over at the fall of the first wicket and batted until the 14th overtaking England to a reasonable position from where they could accelerate. The Hampshire captain has a fantastic record in First-class and T20 cricket and proved why he deserved a place in the national team. It needed a brilliant delivery from Wahab to get his wicket.

3. Billings lives up to his billing:

The wicket-keeper batsman, Sam Billings is known for his attacking style of play and his belligerent knock of 53 off just 25 balls helped England post 160. He hit 5 fours and 2 sixes and was particularly severe against Imran Khan taking 20 off 8 balls he faced from the seamer. He found an able partner in skipper Morgan who contributed and unbeaten 45 off 38 balls. His was the last England wicket to fall off the final ball of the innings however not before setting up the match beautifully for his team with a match-winning knock.

4. Pakistani Batsmen fail to impress:

A top score of 24 sums up the shoddy batting performance. None of the Pakistani batsmen apart from Sohaib Maqsood and Umar Akmal looked good enough to take their team over the line. The 39-year-old debutant Rafatullah Mohammad struggled to time the ball in his 20 ball 16 run vigil. The likes of Sarfaraz and Hafeez couldn’t get the elevation they needed and holed out in the deep. Maqsood (24) and Akmal (19) were looking to get their team back on track with a 32 run partnership before being involved in a horrible mix-up resulting in the latter’s wicket. Afridi played a loose shot and went for a duck being caught at cover. They needed either a big knock from one batsman or 2-3 batsmen to contribute like England did. Wahab tried his best with an enterprising 21 off 13 however it was always an uphill task to get 20 off the last over.

5. England bowlers shine:

Liam Plunkett proved his worth by bowling a brilliant spell of 3/21. He bowled consistently above 142kmph and kept the batsmen honest. Wickets of Rafatullah and Hafeez gave England the perfect start and he came back to remove Anwar who was set on 20 off 14. The left-arm spinner Stephen Parry bowled very slow in an impressive spell of 2/33. Wickets of Rizwan and Afridi were important and kept England on top. Topley, having a fantastic tour, continued his form with a spell of 3/24. He gave his team the breakthrough with the wicket of Sarfaraz and held his nerve in the last over successfully defending 20 with wickets of Wahab and Khan to end the match.

England won the 1st T20I and lead 3-match series 1-0. Follow the Pakistan v England T20I series live, Watch the live streaming at Cricketgateway.com