Babar Azam hits a superb century and Mohammad Rizwan hits an unbeaten 88 as the Pakistan opener seals the record with a 10-wicket win over England in the second T20 to level the streak 1-1
England were brought back to earth with a bang as Pakistan’s under-fire opening games combined to seal the biggest 10-wicket win in Twenty20 internationals history.
It seems ridiculous to suggest that Mohammad Rizwan and captain Babar Azam, the number one T20 racquets in the world and the one-day equivalent respectively, should be the target of criticism.
But this is Pakistan, where anticipation and passion reach levels other places around the world can’t fathom, and the pressure was clearly on as they set out to pursue a target of 200 runs to see the series among the to balance the lights of the National Stadium.
England had taken a 1-0 lead earlier in the week to chase themselves but Moeen opted to bat first on a fresh pitch this time, a decision that seemed to be confirmed when he made a quick one of his own , undefeated half century struck.
However, he was trumped by his opponent Babar, who hit an exciting 100 mark as Pakistan sped past their best-ever chase without dropping a wicket – the 169 target New Zealand negotiated against them six years ago.
A dropped catch over his head from Alex Hales, who stepped back from mid bowling by Liam Dawson, was the only notable chance England had on a pitch the pair otherwise completely dominated.
It came on the final over of the power play when Dawson, coming on for injured fast bowler Richard Gleeson, held one off to tempt Rizwan into an error.
Had they taken the opportunity when Rizwan had half of the 46 on the board things might have been different, but Babar in particular responded to accusations that he was chewing too many deliveries by hitting three digits with just 62 of them.
Rizwan survived half a chance when Moeen caught a cover drive in the penultimate over, but that would have only removed the shame of a first 10-wicket loss for England in the game’s shortest format.
