Pakistan v England 3rd T20I Review: England pull off a dramatic match in the Super Over

England held their nerves yet again and registered a T20I whitewash over Pakistan in a dramatic match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Winning the toss, Morgan decided to bat first on a surface which looked full of runs. England managed 154/8 while Pakistan also got to the exact score losing one less wicket! The super over turned out to be the difference between the two sides in a thrilling contest full of drama.

The visitors got off to a horrendous start with Jason Roy being dismissed LBW on the first ball of the innings; Aamer Yamin thus had a dream start with a wicket off the first ball on debut. Sohail Tanvir nearly had the other opener James Vince in the second over of the innings however he failed to hold on to a tough chance off his own bowling. Joe Root hit two lovely fours off Yamin to signal his intentions and smashed Mohammad Irfan for a six and a four in the next over. England raced way to 46/1 in 5 over with Root looking in ominous touch with 31 off 19. Shahid Afridi brought himself on and immediately made an impact with back to back wickets of Root and Moin Ali; Root was bowled while Ali caught and bowled off the final 2 deliveries of the 6th over.

Morgan scored 15 off 14 and his knock was ended by Shoaib Malik. Malik got one to spin past the left-hander’s bat which rattled the stumps.  Jos Butler was run out for 2 while calling the striker Vince for a quick single, however, was beaten by a direct hit from the keeper Mohammad Rizwan. England was in deep trouble at 86/6 from 12.3 overs when Sam Billings top edged one from Anwar Ali for Umar Akmal to take a brilliant catch at midwicket. Chris Woakes joined Vince and the two batted brilliantly to resurrect the England innings. Woakes hit one on the roof and the other in the stands off Anwar in the 18th over. Vince hammered Irfan for a four and six in the next over. Woakes was out on the first ball off the last over after a smashing 37 off 24 balls that included 1 four and 3 sixes. Vince’s fine knock of 46 off 45 ended on the penultimate ball as England posted a competitive 154/8. Afridi and Tanvir picked up two wickets each while Malik bowled 2 economical overs giving only 4 runs with the wicket of Morgan.

Pakistan’s batting woes continued as an eventful first over from David Willy saw 2 wickets and 4 wides! An ugly heave from Ahmed Shehzad resulted in his stumps being uprooted and Mohammad Hafeez was yet again run out which, not for the first time in the series, showcased Pakistan’s poor running between the wickets. Rafatullah Mohmand was out LBW as he went a long way across the stumps, aiming to flick to the leg side but missing it altogether. Mohammad Rizwan started positively with a first ball 4 and looked in good nick. Malik also looked steady early on and tried to rotate the strike. Rizwan hit Jordan for 3 wonderful boundaries in the 6th over as Pakistan reached 40/3 at the end of it.

Adil Radhi took a debatable caught and bowled which ended Rizwan’s knock on 24 off 23. The decision was referred to the third umpire with ‘out’ as the soft signal from the on-field officials. After watching many replays and trying to make sure if the finger is underneath the ball, the third umpire finally gave him out; much to the surprise of the Pakistani coaching staff as it seemed that the ball may have just touched the ground before being picked up by the bowler. Umar Akmal’s wicket further dented the Pakistani hopes as they reached 67/5 at the end of 12 overs needing another 88 from 48 balls. Malik was batting on 28 off 31 however the innings needed some impetus and the skipper Afridi did just that. The next two overs witnessed 3 sixes, two from the bat of Afridi and one from Malik as the two decided to go for broke. Malik hit 2 lovely boundaries in the 15th over to bring the equation down to 51 required from 30 balls.

Afridi hit one more six before being dismissed for 29 off 20 however Malik continued the good work smashing 2 more fours in the same over. Pakistan needed 10 off the last over to be bowled by Woakes and it seemed it would be an easy win as Sohail Tanvir hit a straight six off the second ball. However, a dot ball was followed by a single and real drama unfolded as Malik’s hit landed in the safe hands of Billings at long-on. He made a marvelous 75 off 54 including 8 fours and 2 sixes. 2 needed off the final ball and Woakes delivered a wide one which Tanvir missed however the batsmen managed to steal a bye resulting in a Super Over!

Chris Jordan bowled one of the best Super Over in the history of T20I cricket conceding just 3 runs. Bowling yorkers at will he didn’t allow Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal any room or length to free their arms. Akmal tried to scoop the last ball, however, missed it and uprooted the stumps. 2 of the 3 runs were leg byes as Jordan consistently bowled close to the batsman’s feet.

After much deliberation, Afridi was convinced by Tanvir to bowl the over. The skipper took it upon himself against his counterpart Morgan and bowled a dot ball first up. A single down the ground brought Butler on strike and he hit a reverse shot to point, another dot ball. A single off the next ball got the equation to 2 off 2. Morgan again hit the ball to long-off and the two batsmen managed to scamper for a second run; Anwar couldn’t collect the ball as Butler dived successfully to start the celebrations in the dressing room. Shoaib Malik was rightly declared the man-of-the-match for his valiant effort. James Vince was adjudged the man-of-the-series for his splendid efforts with the bat in all 3 matches.

Brief Scores:

England 154/8 –  (J Vince 46; S Afridi 2/19)

Pakistan 154/7 – (S Malik 75; D Willey 3/36)

Match tied (England won the one-over eliminator)

Man of the Match: Shaoib Malik

Man of the Series: James Vince

Also check out: Twitter Reactions: England beat Pakistan in a Super Over thriller