England take lead 2-1

England captain Eoin Morgan: “The performance was hugely satisfying”.

Azhar Ali and Babar Azam got off to a steady start and kept the England bowlers at bay as they provided a solid platform.

Mohammad Hafeez top-scored with 45, but it wasn’t the most fluent knock from Pakistan’s most successful batsman in the series so far.

English team has chased the 208 runs target in 41 overs with 6 wickets in hand. He timed the ball well and looked quite comfortable against all bowlers with particular liking for Adil Rashid.

Buttler then finished the job in style, swinging Iftikhar high over the midwicket boundary.

But Taylor and Buttler would not let it be so.

SIX: Taylor hoists Malik over mid-wicket. Eng 93-4, 22 overs.

He found Hales’ edge pressing forward and when Morgan was undone by Malik, Pakistan sensed England might wobble.

ESCAPE: Hales survives a caught-and-bowled chance from Irfan. Chris Woakes struck in the 11th. This is the third run out of the innings and Pakistan have only themselves to blame. But, he was not quick enough to escape the attention of irate Pakistani fans, who saved his comments and reposted them on the social media. Riaz sent the next ball to the same region and this time he was dropped by Root. Pakistan slip to 161 for eight. In comparison, Pakistan were wayward and their running between the wickets let them down. In the end we were 40-50 runs short. Undecided whether to pull or leave, he top-edged a slow, short delivery from Willey to be caught by Joe Root at the square-leg fence. Meanwhile, Jos Buttler (49 not out) had a reprieve as Sarfraz missed a stumping off Malik. Pak 92-2, 20 overs.

Another wicket went down and it was again the mistake of the batsman.

FOUR: Hafeez spanks Woakes over mid-off.

FOUR: Classy drive through cover and mid-off from the Pakistan captain.

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first on a decent batting track.

The four-match series is tied at 1-1. Both teams have won one match each in Abu Dhabi.

Pakistan head coach Waqar Younis has insisted that his side will have to play out of their skins to stage a strong comeback against England in the third one-day worldwide in Sharjah on Tuesday. He is reported to have sustained a knee injury. Viewers in the United States can watch Pakistan vs England ODI live on Willow TV and stream the game on Willow TV Online.

“But to show it against Pakistan – especially after that first game – to come back and play like we did in the second ODI was really pleasing to see”.

After having lost the first match in the series, England staged a marvelous comeback by winning a couple of games on the trot.

“What I find hard to explain to guys who weren’t out there at the time is (how important it was) that they went out there and played their shots – in such a way that you don’t let somebody bowl in the same position twice”.