LAHORE -Disciplined bowling by Pakistan bowlers helped the home side register a narrow 5-run victory over England in the thrilling fifth T20I here at the jam-packed Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday night.
It was team work and disciplined bowling by all the Pakistani bowlers, who not only succeeded in taking England wickets on regular intervals but also managed to restrict them to 140 runs to register a nail-biting 5-run win. Haris Rauf bagged two wickets for 41 while Mohammad Nawaz, Aamer Jamal, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Wasim took one scalp each.
Captain Moeen Ali was though hero of the England side with second fifty of the series as he slammed sensational 37-ball 51 runs that included two fours and four sixes yet he couldn’t guide his side to a well-deserving win. He was ably supported by David Malan and Sam Curran. Malan made 35-ball 36 wrapped with four boundaries while Curran hit 11-ball 17 with one boundary. Chris Woakes hit 12-ball 10 runs.
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Chasing the target of 146 runs, the English team couldn’t start well and kept on losing wickets on regular interval. Muhammad Nawaz provided the first scalp of Alex Hales for just one run. He was followed by another opener Phil Salt (3), who was bowled out by Haris Rauf while Ben Duckett could add just 10 runs in the tally before getting trapped by Mohammad Wasim.
When England were struggling at 31-3 in 3.1 overs, David Malan and Harry Brook steadied their innings and added significant 23 runs for the fourth-wicket stand. Shadab Khan then took the wicket of Brook (4). Malan’s wicket was the turning point of the match as after his dismissal, no other English player could contribute significantly except captain Moeen.
Earlier, Muhammad Rizwan fired his fourth fifty of the series as Pakistan were bowled out for 145 runs in the fifth T20I against England. The English bowlers also bowled brilliantly and restricted Pakistan to 145 runs in overs.
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Only opener Muhammad Rizwan batted with authority and emerged as top scorer with 63 runs off 46 balls that included two fours and three sixes. He was dismissed by Sam Curran in the 18th over of the innings. None of the other batters were able to cross the 20-run mark where Iftikhar Ahmed (15) and Aamer Jamal (10) were the only other batters to reach the double figures.
For England, Mark Wood was the wrecker-in-chief of Pakistan batting line up as he clinched three wickets in 4 overs for just 20 runs. David Willey and Sam Curran picked up two wickets each for 23 runs and Chris Woakes got one wicket.
Scores in brief PAKISTAN 145 (Mohammad Rizwan 63, Iftikhar Ahmed 15; Mark Wood 3-20, David Willey 2-23, Sam Curran 2-23) beat
ENGLAND 139/7 (Moeen Ali 51, David Malan 36; Haris Rauf 2-41) by 5 runs.