England came back strong in the do-or-die match in the T20I series against Pakistan on Sunday (July 18) after losing the series opener by 31 runs. England won by 45 runs to level the three-match series at 1-1. The series-deciding match will take place in Leeds on Tuesday, July 20.The English bowlers had a pretty good game in this encounter, as their tight bowling gave the Pakistani batters a lot of problems. Moeen Ali was the player of the match for his all-round performance. The second match report of the PAK vs. ENG 2021 T20I series is discussed in this article.
The Second Match Report: PAK vs. ENG 2021 T20I Series
England needed to win the second match in order to keep the series alive. Therefore the home team made several changes for the second match at the Headingley, Leeds.
Wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler captained the English side in this match as Eoin Morgan didn't take part in the contest. David Willey and Lewis Gregory were replaced by Chris Jordan and leg-spinner Adil Rashid in the starting XI. On the other side, the Pakistani team remained unchanged.
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Having asked to bat first, England lost two early wickets in the first three overs. Skipper Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali then counter-attacked the Pakistani bowlers and added 67 runs in just 31 balls in the third wicket.
Pacer Mohammad Hasnain dismissed Moeen Ali (36 off 16) in the eighth over. Pakistan's campaign expected to take control of the contest after getting the breakthrough. Though, Jos Buttler-Liam Livingstone pair taunted the visitor further more. They put up a 52-run partnership in 34 balls to take the total to 137 in the 14th over.
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Pakistani bowlers performed well in the final five overs. They gave up 46 runs before capturing the remainder of England's wickets. England were bowled out for 200 runs in exactly 20 overs. Jos Buttler scored the most runs for England with 59, while last match centurion Livingstone scored 38 runs. Despite being an expensive bowler, Hasnain took the most wickets for Pakistan with 3/51.
Babar Azam (22) and Mohammad Rizwan (37) gave Pakistan a solid start in the chase, putting on a 50-run partnership in 5.4 overs. However, Pakistan's innings began to crumble after the departure of Rizwan.
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Pakistan lost half of their batters within 100 runs In 13 overs. Lower middle-order batsmen Shadab Khan (36) and Imad Wasim (20) tried to save the match with some big hitting, but their efforts merely reduced the margin of defeat. Pakistan's innings ended with a score of 155/9 in 20 overs.
Saqib Mahmood took the most wickets with 3/33 for England. While spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali took two wickets each for the 'Three Lions'.
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Bottom Line
England's fielding unit was keen to keep the Pakistani batters under strain in the second match. Their efforts were rewarded with a comprehensive victory against Pakistan in the contest. The host gave up a lot of runs and eventually lost by a big margin to the visitors in the first match.
England will be hoping to keep their winning streak intact in the last match of the PAK vs. ENG 2021 T20I series. On the other side, Pakistani batsmen must perform well in the third match if they want to win the twenty20 series.The winner of the series will gain confidence ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, which will be hosted in the Middle East in the October-November window.
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