After being whitewashed by the second-string England team in the ODI series, Pakistan on Friday (July 16) bounced back emphatically to register a comprehensive 31-run victory over the full-strength English side in the first T20I at Trent Bridge.
Invited to bat first, the visitors piled up a mammoth 232/6 in 20 overs on the back of skipper Babar Azam’s 49-ball 85 and Mohammad Rizwan’s 31-ball 63. The duo added 150 runs for the opening wicket to lead the foundation for a huge total.
Sohaib Maqsood (19 off 7 balls), Fakhar Zaman (26 off 8 balls) and Mohammad Hafeez (24 off 10 balls) also played valuable cameos with the bat.
Defending the total, Pakistan bowlers bowled out the mighty English batting line-up for 201 in 19.2 overs. Liam Livingstone was the lone warrior with the bat for the home team, scoring 102 off just 43 deliveries.
For the visitors, Shaheen Afridi was the stand-out bowler, claiming 3 wickets by conceding 30 runs in his 3.2 overs. Shadab Khan (3-52) also took 3 wickets by he was quite expensive with the ball while Mohammad Hasnain (1-28) bowled an economical spell.
For their stunning performance in the T20I series opener, Pakistan cricket team received rich praise from the cricket fraternity on Twitter.
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