Tag: Cricket

England make mincemeat of target of 170, with Phil Salt smashing 87no from 41 balls as tourists cruise to victory with 33 balls to spare; Sunday’s final fixture a series decider; Babar Azam’s 87 not out from 59 balls in vain for Pakistan on day he passes 3,000 T20I runs

Phil Salt blasted 87 not out from 41 balls as England brushed off their recent batting failings by cruising to a target of 170 in the sixth T20 international against Pakistan and making Sunday’s final fixture a series decider.

England had allowed a 2-1 lead in the series turn into a 3-2 deficit after two bungled run chases in games four and five, but were brutal batting second on Friday night, with Salt the spearhead as they cantered home with 33 balls to spare to win by eight wickets and level proceedings at 3-3.

Salt, who rushed to his half-century from just 19 balls, bludgeoned 55 from 23 deliveries with opening partner Alex Hales (27 off 12), the fifty stand coming up after just three overs as Mohammad Nawaz, Shahnawaz Dahani and Mohammad Wasim were pummelled for a combined 10 boundaries.

Salt continued to pepper the fence after Hales was caught off Shadab Khan in the fourth over, with his pulsating innings containing 13 fours and three sixes and perhaps even pushing him ahead of Hales in the battle to open with white-ball skipper Jos Buttler at next month’s T20 World Cup.

The Lancashire opener pulverised Pakistan, dominating a second-wicket stand of 76 from just 34 balls with Dawid Malan (26 off 18) as he rebounded from single-figure dismissals in his previous three innings.

Salt clinched England’s victory in the company of Ben Duckett (26no off 16) – Malan having been pinned lbw by a delivery from Shadab that shot along the ground – as the tourists made mincemeat of Pakistan’s 169-6 and rendered home skipper Babar Azam’s supreme 87 from 59 balls in vain.

Babar Azam is the joint-fastest player to 3,000 T20 international runs, alongside India’s Virat Kohli

Babar played quite beautifully after Pakistan were inserted by Moeen Ali, becoming the joint-fastest player, alongside India’s Virat Kohli, to reach 3,000 T20 international runs, doing so in his 81st innings.

Babar reached the landmark with a sublime straight six off Richard Gleeson, one of three maximums he managed to go with seven fours in his 27th T20I international half-century – although the gloss of that achievement would have been taken off by his team’s heavy defeat.

Babar fires for Pakistan as Curran impresses for England

Babar would have been run out for 24 in the sixth over had Sam Curran’s shy at the non-striker’s stumps been on target – a rare blemish for Curran on the evening as he proved the pick of the England attack with figures of 2-26 from his four overs and an economy rate of 6.50.

Curran accounted for Haider Ali (18 off 14) and Iftikhar Ahmed (31 off 21) with cutters after the batters had shared stands of 47 and 48 respectively with skipper Babar.

Both Haider and Iftikhar creamed Adil Rashid (0-38) for sixes as the England leg-spinner went at 9.50 an over – right-arm quick Gleeson (1-39) also leaked runs, going at 9.75 from his four.

David Willey took two wickets after England elected to bowl in Lahore

Gleeson did dismiss debutant Mohammad Haris for a skittish seven from eight balls during a slow start for Pakistan – Haris nailing one six but also hacking at deliveries after coming into the hosts’ side at the top of the order in place of the rested Mohammad Rizwan.

Pakistan were 15-2 in the fourth over when David Willey (2-32) pinned Shan Masood lbw for a two-ball duck but Babar led the response with a tremendous unbeaten knock, with included a gorgeous six over extra-cover off a Willey full toss in the 17th over.

Pakistan mustered just 15 runs from the next 16 balls after that Babar six, during which time Willey had Asif Ali (9) pouched on the point boundary and Reece Topley (1-31) bowled a five-run 18th over.

However, Topley was then taken for 19 from the final over as Babar and Mohammad Nawaz (12 off seven) hit two sixes and a four between them – Topley looking far from jubilant after having Nawaz caught at long-off off from the final ball of the innings.

Topley and England were jubilant come full time, though, as Salt’s swashbuckling innings ensured a winner-takes-all showdown at Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday night.

What’s next?

Pakistan vs England

October 2, 2022, 3:00pm

Live on

Catch England’s seventh and final T20 international in Pakistan on Sky Sports on Sunday. Build-up begins at 3pm with the first ball at 3.30pm.

England then travel Down Under to prepare for the T20 World Cup, with three T20s against host nation Australia (October 9,12 and 14) and a warm-up against Pakistan (October 17) before Jos Buttler’s side begin their World Cup campaign against Afghanistan in Perth on October 22.

You can watch the T20 World Cup live in full on Sky Sports with the tournament getting under way on October 16.

Jos Buttler has not played since August 18 due to a calf injury and taking “cautious approach” with his side’s T20 World Cup campaign starting on October 22; skipper praises Mark Wood and Harry Brook’s performances against Pakistan and says he is ‘learning lots’ from the sidelines

England captain Jos Buttler says he is “progressing well” as he bids to return to full fitness ahead of the T20 World Cup next month.

Buttler has not played since August 18 due a calf injury he sustained during The Hundred but is with England on the T20 tour of Pakistan as he closes in on a comeback.

The 32-year-old told Sky Sports he was taking a “cautious approach” to his return, with England having six more T20s – three against Pakistan and the same number against Australia – before their World Cup opener against Afghanistan in Perth on October 22.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Highlights of the fifth T20 international between Pakistan and England as the hosts edged home by six runs

Speaking between innings during England’s defeat to Pakistan in the fifth T20I of the seven-match series, Buttler said: “I am progressing well.

“It would be nice to play but with the World Cup round the corner we are taking a cautious approach.

“I am running a few drinks, getting the loads up, feeling good. I feel like if it was a World Cup game tomorrow I could play but I am being a bit cautious and taking it a bit slowly. If I had to, I could play.

“It is quite a unique situation to be here and not play, to observe.

“I am learning lots listening to the group and watching the way they go about things, watching without as much emotion as when you are involved and thinking about what you will do at certain times.

“[Stand-in skipper] Moeen Ali has been fantastic. I have very much asked him to lead the group and take it on as if he is captain and he has been brilliant – great around the group as he always is and on the field I have been impressed.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Harry Brook and Ben Duckett shared an unbroken 139-run partnership in the third T20 international against Pakistan

Buttler is set to open for England at the T20 World Cup and there could also be a spot in the middle order for Harry Brook, with the Yorkshireman making innings of note in each of the T20s against Pakistan so far, bar the fifth when he was dismissed for four.

Brook smashed an unbeaten 81 from 35 balls in the third fixture, including five sixes and nine fours, as England piled on 221-3 in Karachi.

Buttler added: “Brook is giving people really good selection headaches which is what you want. The mark of good teams is good people outside the XI pushing to get in the XI.

“He has got a lot of game, a lot of options. I don’t think he premeditates too much, he reacts to every ball coming down.

“I like his demeanour at the crease and I like the way he goes about his business. He is pretty unflappable.”

Seamer Mark Wood could be crucial for England at the World Cup and impressed on Wednesday evening with 3-20 during a searing four-over spell in Lahore.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Watch each of England paceman Mark Wood’s three wickets in the sixth T20 international against Pakistan

The paceman has claimed three-wicket hauls in each of the two T20s he has played in the Pakistan series, twice dismissing home skipper Babar Azam.

Buttler said: “I have been delighted with Woody. He is such a great man to have in your team on and off the field.

“He has shown a great amount of resilience. He has been through lots of injuries but bounces back every time and does the work.

“To bowl 97mph the other day was fantastic. Anyone who bowls at that pace creates chances and mistakes and being able to have a genuine wicket-taker is valuable in T20 cricket.”

Watch England’s sixth T20 international in Pakistan live on Sky Sports Cricket on Friday. Coverage begins at 3pm with the first ball at 3.30pm.