England bat with Buttler as captain

Now Pakistan were behind the rate until the 18th over, bowled by Chris Woakes, which went for 22 runs including three sixes as the ball was suddenly attracted to the middle of Afridi’s bat.

The second T20 of the three match Twenty20 series between host Pakistan and England will be played at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday.

He returns to captain England for the first time in worldwide cricket and has won the toss and chosen to bat on the same surface used for both the ODI at the venue and Thursday’s T20I.

England rested Jos Buttler and Joe Root and had earlier looked in trouble at 19 for three, with Hales going when he hit Anwar Ali to mid-off.

Pakistan, however, seemed in with a chance as long as Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed were around.

Buttler threatened to up the ante until his attempted ramp shot backfired with a tame edge behind off Tanvir.

Root’s replacement, James Vince, also impressed with 41 on debut to help England from 19-3 to a total of 160-5. Sohail Tanvir has trouble locating the ball out of the night sky. Vince followed it up with a six and a couple of fours in the next over.

He tried to repeat the dose two balls later, but picked out Umar Akmal at long on, who took a terrific catch as he nearly tumbled over the boundary, but managed to throw the ball back up in the air, regain his balance, and complete the catch back inside the rope.

Afridi was also the pick of the Pakistan bowlers, taking 3-15.

Pakistan then got off to a fantastic start reaching fifty inside five overs but the introduction of spin dragged them back in. Stephen Parry got rid of the risky looking Shehzad in his opening over itself and England had the important breakthrough.

The result came in the ninth over when Mohmand ventured down the track but missed the ball while Buttler whipped off the bails in a flash. Their top order needs to fire but Reece Topley and Liam Plunkett looked good with the ball. However, Plunkett struck again to remove Malik (26) in the 17th over.

Shahid “Boom Boom” Afridi nearly pulled off a remarkable turnaround in Dubai yesterday, but his all-action performance was ultimately in vain for Pakistan.

Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez tried to remain upbeat. That set up an exhilarating final two overs and a simple equation: could Pakistan score the 25 runs required to win or would England bowl tightly enough to keep them in check? Woakes started perfectly getting Sarfraz Ahmed to chop on first ball.

The second T20 match between England and Pakistan takes place in Dubai today with the third in Sharjah on Monday. England were grateful that Chris Woakes and the scampering Adil Rashid could contrive 14 runs from the last over of their innings.

Plunkett was adjudged as the Man of the Match for his contribution with the ball.

While Ali may not finish as England’s leading wicket taker, he will certainly play an integral role for the tourists in the series.