They soared before England could take off. Jos Buttler’s side will travel to Barbados on Friday morning to begin the defense of their T20 World Cup title after a comprehensive seven-match victory over Pakistan ended with victory with 27 balls remaining A short, rain-affected but still encouraging race.
“We feel confident and positive,” said Adil Rashid, who was named man of the match after taking two wickets and conceding just 27 balls in four overs. “We’re in a good place. If we go out there and stick to our guns and stick with the positivity that we have, hopefully we can go further. It’s very clear what we’re trying to do and we all have a common goal, That is what we are trying to achieve.
The situation they faced on a cold night in London – with the game reaching a warm-up-defining critical point and some batsmen having to huddle under blankets as they waited for their turn in the middle – was unlikely to happen in the Caribbean Region replicates, but their newly inflated confidence should survive the flight. After a great performance on the court, Butler and Phil Salt scored 78 points in the first six rounds. It was the third-highest power-play total conceded by England and the second-highest total conceded by Pakistan.
Earlier, Pakistan also endured an impressive powerplay with their opening batsmen Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam taking on England’s opening bowlers Mark Wood and Joffre La Archer competes to see who can make the fastest, brightest start. Wood replaces Reece Topley, the only change from England’s only rain-free game of the series at Edgbaston on Saturday. He started his first T20 match in 13 months and had a fitting burst of pent-up energy, hitting 96mph in his second over.
Rizwan struck the ball for the second time in a row. In the next over, bowled by Chris Jordan, Babar also hit consecutive boundaries, in the process becoming the second player after Virat Kohli to score A batsman who has scored 4,000 runs in the format. There are also two boundaries for the next round and the round after that. With a one-goal power play, Pakistan topped the list with 59 wins and no defeat.
This was Archer’s second attack and if he said he was getting the ball moving from the start, it was momentum he was moving now. He slowed down a bit and instead of pushing past Rashid at third, Babar passed the ball right to him.
Rashid himself dealt with another opener in the next over, hitting the top of mid-wicket and batting. Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan and Azam Khan followed, the last being Wood’s precise and ferocious short ball. middle body victim. Pakistan went from 59 clean sheets after 35 balls to 95 wins with 5 balls after 65 balls.
The players had just returned from a brief rain break and for a while, Usman Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed seemed refreshed by a drizzle of rain and pep talks in the dressing room. But then they decided to attack Liam Livingstone’s back-spin, which didn’t quite go to plan. Usman passed the ball too close to Jordan (really not close at all, but for Jordan it was better not to risk it) and Shaheen Shah Afridi went over The ball was passed over the line and missed, Livingstone got a two-wicket maiden wicket and from there the innings began to dwindle and Pakistan limped out for 157.
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Just one look at the scoreboard and you’ll know that England’s opening response was brilliant but not immediately convincing. The bowler found Buttler’s leading edge twice in the first three overs, but the ball eventually landed safely while the captain’s first boundary flew out from the outside edge.
Meanwhile, there were more worrying signs for Pakistan: a comeback in the first over and a series of blunders by Azam behind the stumps, most notably a simple but comprehensive catch on Buttler. In the same Harish Rauf over, Buttler again edged Azam by four runs and again went straight to him, this time holding on. Butler’s performance may have been unconvincing, but considering he scored 39 points on 195 field goal percentage and put his team in absolute dominance, that seems a bit disrespectful.
Salter settled down quicker, hitting exciting carefree sixes off Mohammad Amir and Naseem Shah. But in his five half-centuries, he pulled Rauf, usually from mid-on, straight to Rizwan. When Buttler fell in the overs, England needed 57 runs and had 11 overs to do so and all that was left was nothing more than a parade. But the good thing in the end was that Jonny Bairstow, their least convincing batsman at Edgbaston, found some form along the way, hitting three sixes , two of which were bowled over the cover of Shadab.
