England thrash Pakistan by 67 runs to clinch seven-match T20I series 4-3

Oct 04, 2022

England thrash Pakistan by 67 runs to clinch seven-match T20I series 4-3 Image

In the seventh and final T20I match between the two teams, played on Sunday night at the Gaddafi Stadium, England defeated Pakistan by a score of 67 runs to win the series. Dawid Malan, who had an unbeaten 78, and Ben Duckett (30) and Harry Brook, who had a useful 46 not out, all contributed to this success.

The current ODI world champions will benefit greatly from the 4-3 series victory as they pursue the ICC T20 World Cup trophy later this month in Australia.

With Pakistan needing to score 210 runs in order to win, they could only manage 142/8 in 20 overs thanks to Chris Woakes, who caused chaos at the top of the order by dismissing captain Babar Azam (4) and then the dangerous Shan Masood (56).

It was a disappointing climax for Pakistan because they gave up after having fought so valiantly to win the series. Due to an injury and persistent questions about the fitness of young right-arm quick Naseem Shah, who would be essential to their chances of winning the T20 World Cup, they were without the tall pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Babar also missed two opportunities in the field, and Pakistan won't be able to afford any careless errors if they want to win the T20 World Cup in Australia for the second time.

Even missing flamboyant batsmen Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone and normal commander Jos Buttler, who is out with a calf injury, England nevertheless performed admirably under acting captain Moeen Ali as the top order helped the visitors get off to a strong start.

While David Willey, Chris Woakes, and Reece Topley have proven they are strong T20I players, Dawid Malan (78 not out) found form in the series finale and is expected to be a crucial player at the T20 World Cup.

According to the ICC, England should be regarded as one of the favourites to win the four-week competition since Buttler and Livingstone are expected to make a comeback for the T20 World Cup.

Before playing Pakistan in a pregame match at The Gabba on October 17, England will fly to Australia for a three-match series against the T20 World Cup hosts. They face Afghanistan in Perth on October 22 in their opening match of the T20 World Cup.

Prior to playing England and Afghanistan in a pair of warm-up games in Brisbane, Pakistan will fly to New Zealand for a tri-series against the Black Caps and Bangladesh.

Brief scores: England 209/3 (Dawid Malan 78 not out, Ben Duckett 30, Harry Brook 46 not out) beat Pakistan 142/8 (Shan Masood 56; Chris Woakes 3/26) by 67 runs.

While veteran opener Mohammad Rizwan (316) and captain Babar Azam (285) together with pacer Haris Rauf, who has eight wickets in the series, have performed admirably, the opening pair struggled in the series finale, getting bowled for 1 and 4 runs, respectively.