Adil Rashid stars as England edge T20 series against Pakistan

Published July 21, 2021
England's Adil Rashid, right, celebrates the dismissal of Pakistan's Shadab Khan, left, during the third Twenty20 international cricket match between England and Pakistan at Old Trafford in Manchester on July 20. — AP
England's Adil Rashid, right, celebrates the dismissal of Pakistan's Shadab Khan, left, during the third Twenty20 international cricket match between England and Pakistan at Old Trafford in Manchester on July 20. — AP
England captain Eoin Morgan, sixth from left, holds the winners trophy and poses with his teammates after the third Twenty20 international cricket match between England and Pakistan at Old Trafford in Manchester on July 20. — AP
England captain Eoin Morgan, sixth from left, holds the winners trophy and poses with his teammates after the third Twenty20 international cricket match between England and Pakistan at Old Trafford in Manchester on July 20. — AP

Adil Rashid took a career-best haul before England just did enough in a nervous chase to wrap up their white-ball home season with a thrilling three-wicket win over Pakistan in a Twenty20 decider at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Victory gave England the three-match series 2-1.

Leg-spinner Rashid took 4-35 as Pakistan were restricted to 154-6 after winning the toss, with Mohammad Rizwan batting through the innings for 76 not out.

England opener Jason Roy, the player of the match, got the chase off to a brisk start with a dashing 64. But the hosts kept losing wickets before returning captain Eoin Morgan made a useful 21.

Liam Livingstone, the player of the series after scoring England's fastest T20 hundred in the opener at Trent Bridge, struck one six and then holed out before Chris Jordan struck the winning runs in the last over.

Roy took four boundaries off Shaheen Shah Afridi's first over and swept spinner Imad Wasim for six.

Fellow opener Jos Buttler was well caught in the deep by captain Babar Azam off leg-spinner Shadab Khan for a scratchy 21.

Roy, by contrast completed a 30-ball fifty but on 64 he skied a catch off Usman Qadir, a leg-spinner like his father, the outstanding Abdul Qadir.

Jonny Bairstow holed out cheaply off left-arm spinner Imad Wasim and when Moeen Ali was bowled charging at off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez for just one, England were 112-4 off 15 overs.

With four overs left, England needed 39 more runs to win.

But with Morgan hitting a couple of fours off Hafeez, England were 126-4 off 17 overs. Azam, rather than continue with spin, recalled paceman Hasan Ali into the attack.

But left-hander Morgan hoisted him for two sixes separated by three dot balls.

But when Hafeez bowled Dawid Malan for 31, England still needed 12 to win off eight balls.

Liam Livingstone, however, responded by hoisting his first ball for six only to be caught next ball, with England needing six off the last over.

Livingstone and Morgan then got out in quick succession before a pair of hard-run twos from Jordan ended the match.

Spin proved Pakistan's undoing for the second match in a row, with off-spinner Moeen taking 1-19 from his four overs in addition to Rashid's haul.

Rashid took the first three wickets to fall, a haul that included having Azam stumped for just 11 by wicketkeeper Buttler when the star batsman misread a googly.

Moeen crowned a spell where he did not concede a boundary by having Fakhar Zaman lbw for 24.

Rashid took a wicket with his last delivery when Shadab Khan holed out, with Rizwan not seeing enough of the strike after completing a 38-ball fifty featuring two sixes.

The white-ball match was the last home T20 for Morgan's England side before the World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Oman in October.

“It means a huge amount,” said Morgan of the win. “The style in which we play naturally, and the game which we are best at, I think this is the worst possible wicket that we can actually apply it on.

“So it's a very proud day for us. On a spinning, slow wicket we've managed to win a game against a very good side," he said.

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