Sports Bulletin Report
London (UK): England beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the fourth and final T20I of the series at the Oval on Thursday to take the series 2-0. Both teams wrapped up their preparations for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 by warming up in the two T20I games at the Oval and Edgbaston while the games at Cardiff and Headingley were washed out.
In pursuit of the 158-run target Jos Buttler and Phil Salt walked out all guns blazing as they hammered the ball to all parts of the ground. The duo ransacked 78 runs in the powerplay as Salt hit five fours and two sixes while Buttler belted five fours and one six.
Haris Rauf removed Salt (45, 25b, 6x4s, 2x6s) in the 7th over and Buttler (39, 20b, 7x4s, 1x6) in the 9th over as England cruised to 102-2 at the halfway mark. Haris returned in the 11th over to dismiss Will Jacks with a searing yorker (20, 18b, 1x4, 1x6) who had hit him for a six a ball before.
In the following over Jonny Bairstow belted Shadab Khan for two consecutive sixes to keep the run-rate abreast. An unbeaten 46-run fourth-wicket partnership between Brook (17 not out, 14b, 1x4, 1x6) and Bairstow (28 not out, 16b, 1x4, 3x6s) took England home with 27 balls remaining and seven wickets in the bag. Rauf was the lone wicket-taker for Pakistan.
Earlier, after England invited Pakistan to bat first, the opening batters Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam put on a solid 59-run partnership hitting eight fours and a six. Jofra Archer drew the first blood for England as he removed Babar (36, 5x4s, 1x6) on the last ball of the powerplay.
In the seventh over, Adil Rashid rattled Rizwan’s stumps who departed after scoring 23 off 16 balls with the help of three fours. England managed breakthroughs at regular intervals as the spin duo of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid eked out the vital scalps of Fakhar Zaman (9, 9b, 1x6) and Shadab Khan (0, 1b) respectively leaving Pakistan 84-4 at the halfway mark.
Azam Khan copped a five-ball duck in the 11th over. Usman Khan, in his breezy knock of 38 off 21 balls, smacked three boundaries and two sixes. Liam Livingstone delivered a double-wicket maiden dismissing Usman and Shaheen Shah Afridi as he left Pakistan reeling at 126-7 after 15 overs.
Iftikhar Ahmed (21, 18b, 2x4s) and Naseem Shah (16, 18b, 1x4, 1x6) pushed Pakistan past the 150-run mark before England wrapped up Pakistan’s innings for 157 all out in 19.5 overs. For England Rashid, Livingstone and Mark Wood bagged two wickets each. Archer, Moeen and Chris Jordan struck once apiece.
