The Pakistan batting line-up made full use of the good batting conditions at Trent Bridge as they racked up 232/6 in their 20 overs. Chasing nearly 12 runs an over, Liam Livingstone led England’s charge with a record 42-ball ton. However, he didn’t have much support as England fell 31 runs short.
Pakistan struggled with the bat throughout the ODI series and couldn’t cross the 200-run mark in two out of the three games. And in the first T20I, they went well past it and recorded their highest-ever T20I score. It was a high-scoring thriller as the two sides combined to score 433 runs, but Pakistan held their nerves to go 1-0 up in the series.
England won the toss and asked Pakistan to bat first on what was a belter of a pitch at Trent Bridge. Pakistan openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan made full use of the conditions as they forged a fabulous 150-run stand for the opening wicket. Both batters smashed half-centuries in quick time.
Rizwan had a sedate start while skipper Azam was in full swing from the get-go. The latter scored 32 off 21 balls in the powerplay, while Rizwan made 14 off 15 as Pakistan scored 49 runs in the first six overs. In fact, Pakistan were 80/0 after the first 10 overs, and that’s when Rizwan turned the switch. The duo smashed 70 runs in the next five overs. Rizwan raced to 63 off 41 balls (he was once 30 off 27 at the 10-over mark) while Azam reached 83 off 47.
The stand was broken by Lewis Gregory in the 15th over as Rizwan was out for 63. The Pakistan middle-order came out swinging as the likes of Sohaib Maqsood, Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Hafeez all played some crucial cameos to lift Pakistan to 232/6. Azam top-scored with 85. Barring David Willey, all the England bowlers had an economy of more than 11.50.
In reply, England lost three wickets in the powerplay. Jason Roy blasted away to a 13-ball 32, but Shaheen Afridi broke the back of England’s batting line-up. He dismissed Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow in successive overs. Moeen Ali’s promotion to No. 4 didn’t work as he was dismissed by Mohammad Hasnain dismissed him in the fifth over, and England were reduced to 48/3.
Liam Livingstone came out all guns blazing and put the pressure right back on the Pakistan bowlers. However, England kept losing wickets at regular intervals as Livingstone kept smashing it at the other end. He blazed away to a record 42-ball hundred and kept England in the hunt. It was the fastest T20I hundred by an England cricketer in T20Is. However, he fell in the 17th over with the score reading 183/7, and he took England’s hopes with him.
England were bowled out for 201 with four balls to spare as Pakistan registered their first win of this tour. Shaheen finished with a three-fer while Shadab Khan was expensive, but even he picked up three wickets.
Brief scores
Pakistan 232/6 (Azam 85, Rizwan 63, Curran 2/47) beat England 201 allout (Livingstone 103, Roy 32, Afridi 3/30, Shadab 3/52) by 31 runs
