Following his side’s seven-wicket win over Pakistan in the second T20I, England skipper Jos Buttler expressed happiness with his team’s performance, particularly of pacers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood on a surface that helped them.
Fine bowling spells by pacer Mark Wood and spinner Adil Rashid combined with some ferocious hitting by openers Phil Salt and Jos Buttler helped England secure a series victory after a seven-wicket win over Pakistan in the fourth and final T20I at London on Thursday night. With this win, England has taken the four-match series 2-0. Two matches were called off due to rain and only second and fourth T20Is were played.
Following the game, Buttler said during the post-match presentation, “The performance really (pleased me the most). We worked hard in the training, there is a good feeling in the squad. They (Pakistan) got off to a good start but the guys managed to peg it back to a par score. It would have been great to have two more games. We have some good experience. Few guys have been playing the IPL as well, so not short of cricket. Selection is always difficult, which is a nice place to be. Good to see Mark Wood and Jofra Archer operate together on a pitch that had something in it.”
After electing to field first, England bowlers were subjected to some fine hitting by the opening pair of skipper Babar Azam (36 in 22 balls, with five fours and a six) and Mohammed Rizwan (23 in 16 balls, with three fours), but the spinners Adil Rashid (2/27) and Moeen Ali (1/23) turned the pressure back on Pakistan batters, sinking them to 86/5. It was only a brief fightback by Usman Khan (38 in 21 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Iftikhar Ahmed (21 in 18 balls, with two fours), that took Pakistan to 157/10 in 19.5 overs.
Besides Rashid and Moeen, Mark Wood (2/35) and Liam Livingstone (2/17) also did fine with the ball.
In the run-chase of 158 runs, England blew the visitors away with a powerplay assault by Phil Salt (45 in 24 balls, with six fours and two sixes) and skipper Jos Buttler (39 in 24 balls, with seven fours and a six), who made 78 runs in the powerplay.
A brief comeback spell from pacer Haris Rauf (3/38) delayed the victory for England. But Jonny Bairstow (28* in 16 balls, with a four and three sixes) and Harry Brook (17* in 14 balls, with a four and six), finished off the proceedings in 15.3 overs, with seven wickets left.
Rashid got the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his spell.
