MANCHESTER: Openers Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif massacred the England attack to guide Pakistan to a comfortable nine-wicket victory, with 5.1 overs to spare, in the lone Twenty20 Internatio­nal at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

England 135-7 (20 overs).

Pakistan 139-1 (14.5 overs).

The England bowlers were virtual spectators as runs oozed from the blades of the openers. Their partnership yielded 107 runs off 11.1 overs.

Sharjeel was at his brilliant best, punishing the bowlers with powerful strokes all round the wicket. He hit three sixes and seven fours in his match-winning knock of 59 off 36 deliveries.

But it was Khalid Latif who turned out to be the surprise package, coming up with a savage knock of 59 not out, studded with two sixes and eight fours.

Earlier, England scored 135 for the loss of seven wickets off their 20 overs after winning the toss.

Opener Alex Hales was the top scorer with 37 and Jason Roy scored 21.

Wahab Riaz was the most successful bowler with 3-18.

England fielded the same side that lost the World Twenty20 final to the West Indies in April, with all-rounder Ben Stokes playing his first match at this level since being hit for four sixes by Carlos Brathwaite in a dramatic last over at Kolkata.

That meant there was no place in England’s XI for Sussex fast bowler Tymal Mills, Durham quick Mark Wood and Kent batsman Sam Billings.

Buttler returned from the hamstring injury that saw him miss the final two matches of the preceding one-day international series.

Fast bowler Hasan Ali, who took an ODI-best four for 60 in Cardiff on Sunday as Pakistan won the fifth and final match to avoid a series whitewash, was included in the side on Wednesday, together with two Twenty20 specialists in opening batsman Khalid Latif and left-arm quick Sohail Tanveer.

This was wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed’s first match as Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain.

It was also Pakistan’s last match of their tour, which saw them draw a four-match Test series 2-2.

Teams

England: Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wkt), Moeen Ali, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett Pakistan: Khalid Latif, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt/wkt), Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanveer

Umpires: Michael Gough (Eng), Tim Robinson (Eng) TV umpire: Rob Bailey (Eng) Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand).

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2016