In what has been a stop-start kind of a series, hosts England beat Pakistan yet again in the fourth T20I at the Kennington Oval, London by seven wickets, and 27 deliveries to spare. With this effort England won the series, while Babar Azam & Co. struggles continued, as they lost the rain-affected series 0-2. After the first T20I was washed out due to rain, England had beaten the visitors by 23 runs in the second. The third match was abandoned as well.
ENG vs PAK, As it Happened
After opting to bowl first, Jos Buttler’s men were spectacular on the field. Despite the 59-run opening stand between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, the English bowlers kept applying the pressure. Soon they were rewarded for it as Jofra Archer removed Babar for 36. Rizwan was ousted by Adil Rashid in quick succession as well, for 23.
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From there on, Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals, and never really recovered. The controversial Usman Khan did get 38 from 21 deliveries, but couldn’t stitch a partnership with any of the following batsmen. Fakhar Zaman was out for 9, while Azam Khan and Shadab Khan were dismissed for ducks.
In the end, all the English bowlers came out good. But Adil Rashid (2/27), and Liam Livingstone (2/17) stole the show. Come the chase, Phil Salt and Buttler killed the chase with an 82-run stand. Thereafter, Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook completed the formality. As far as Pakistani bowling is concerned, Naseem Shah was poor on the day and leaked 51 runs. Only Haris Rauf was among the wickets, and returned with figures of 3/38.
Pakistan Continues to Struggle/No Warm-up for T20 World Cup
Babar Azam’s Pakistan team is heading into the T20 World Cup with a loss against Ireland, and now a series defeat vs England. This is not the ideal preparation for the former World Cup champs. In fact, the team is not playing any warm-up matches before the competition starts.
Plus, they face India in the high-octane clash in New York on June 9. This gives India a clear edge on the arch-rivals.
