England’s batsmen produced a concerted effort to chase down 161 runs in the 15th over and powered their side to a six-wicket win over Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 warm-up match.
Chasing 161 runs in 19 overs, England comfortably won by six wickets in the 15th over.
England got off to an inauspicious start in their run chase when right-arm speedster Naseem Shah dismissed Phil Salt for one in his first over.
Ben Stokes then joined Alex Hales in the middle and chased the runs with a 46-run partnership for the second wicket.
The stand was dominated by Stokes who kept the scoreboard ticking fast before falling to Mohammad Wasim Jr in the sixth over. He scored 36 runs in 18 with the help of two fours and three sixes.
Hales, on the other hand, fell after scoring 9 for 13 in the next over, which saw England slip to 51/3.
Meanwhile, hard-hitting batsman Liam Livingstone also scored a brilliant 28 off 16 balls.
Harry Brook and Sam Curran then put on a match-winning partnership of 59 runs to seal victory with 26 balls to spare.
Brooke top-scored for England with an unbeaten 45 off 24 balls, which included two fours and four sixes, while Curran chipped in with an unbeaten cameo of 33 off just 14 balls.
For Pakistan, Wasim Jr took two wickets for 16 while Naseem and Shadab Khan took one wicket each.
Pakistan, batting first at the invitation of England captain Jos Buttler, finished on 160/8 in their quota of 19 overs – revised after a brief rain interruption in the 12th over.
Left-handed batsmen Shaun Masood and Haider Ali were promoted to open the innings for Pakistan as their regular duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan did not bat in the first warm-up while all-rounder Shadab Khan stood in. He worked as a captain. .
The pair of Masood and Haider gave the team a strong start as they put on 49 runs for the first wicket and scored at a brisk pace.
Masood was aggressive in the stand while Haider was a bit cautious after scoring 18 runs in 16 before falling in the fifth over.
Shaun, who looked solid for his half-century, fell 11 short when he fell to Liam Livingstone in the seventh over.
The left-handed batsman played a solid knock of 39 off just 22 balls for Pakistan, which included seven fours.
Pakistan’s middle-order batsmen made small contributions with the bat before all-rounder Muhammad Wasim Jr. made a significant cameo.
His blistering knock of 26 off just 16 balls took Pakistan to a respectable total of 160/8 in 19 overs. His innings included three fours and two sixes.
David Willey led England’s bowling attack with 2/22 while Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan and Livingstone took a scalp each.
