England down Pakistan in low-scoring thriller

Sharjah - James Taylor hits 67 as England take series lead

Chasing a low total is never easy and England just about realised that as they survived some anxious moments before overhauling Pakistan's total of 208 runs in the third ODI at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
England who ultimately won by six wickets and nine overs to spare owed it to the unbroken 117-run unbroken fifth wicket partnership between James Taylor (67 not out off 69 balls) and keeper-batsman Jos Buttler (49 not out), who saw England go 2-1 ahead in the four-match series. After having skittled Pakistan for a paltry total, England were expected to go about their task easily. But that was not what the script unfolded in front of a near packed audience.
Pakistan who committed hara-kiri after a sound start, came out all guns blazing. Six-footer Mohammed Irfan bowled with fire and backed by debutant left-arm Zafar Gohar stuck some quick blows to rattle the England camp.
A pumped Irfan gave Pakistan the much vaunted break in the third over when England opener Jason Roy was flummoxed by the extra bounce and the leading edge was safely pouched by Malik. Gohar made it a dream debut with the prized wicket of Joe Root. The in-form batsman attempting a sweep shot hit on the full straight into the hands of Iftikhar at deep square-leg. The two quick wickets reduced England to 27 for 2 in 5.5 overs and had the Pakistan fans on their feet.
Alex Hales and England skipper Eoin Morgan survived some moments as they put their heads together with a 60-run partnership. Gohar who was extracting a fair amount of turn finally broke the partnership as he deceived Hales to snick for Rizwan to scoop a low catch at first slip. Barely couple of overs later, Malik bowled a beauty to uproot the off stump of Morgan, who could only watch on as the ball spun across viciously.
Taylor and Buttler held fort thereafter to ensure England head to Dubai high on confidence.
Earlier, Pakistan self-destructed with a mix of some careless shot selection and spate of runs outs - three in total, on a placid wicket which the England bowlers exploited to the maximum. The ploy was simple, bowl short of length, to which the Pakistan batsmen duely obliged with a series of poor shot selection.From a position of 132 for three wickets in 29.4 overs Pakistan were reduced to 161 for 8 in 41.2 overs . Opener Babar Azam, Mohammed Hafeez, Sarfraz Ahmed, Iftikhar Ahmed  and Anwar Ali all perished while trying to play some extra-ordinary shots. While the runs-outs of skipper Azhar Ali, Mohammad Rizwan and Shoaib Malik only threw a spanner in the Pakistan innings.
It was left to the Pakistan tail-enders, debutant Zafar Gohar (15 off 22) replacing unfit Yasir Shah and Wahab Riaz's (33 not out off 35 ) late fireworks that helped the hosts cross the 200-run mark. Pakistan eventually settling down for 208 runs when last-man Mohammad Irfan was cleaned up by Woakes. The opening left-hand duo of David Willey (1 for 45) and Reece Topley (1 for 41) bowled a disciplined spell.
England pacer Chris Wokes emerged the wrecker-in-chief with his four wicket haul for 40 runs in 9.4 overs. Mooen Ali also played a crucial role when he bowled 10 overs at a stretch to stifle the Pakistan innings in the middle-overs, giving just 30 runs. Ali accounted for the lone wicket to fall to a spinner when he induced Sarfraz to play one of the few adventurous shots into the hands of substitute CR Jordan. Pakistan's in-form batsman, Hafeez top scored with 45 runs in which he slammed couple of sixes off leg-spinner Adil Rashid. Hafeez and Azhar were in the process of rebuilding the Pakistan innings when Hafeez failed to respond to Azhar's call for a single, eventually leading to the skipper being run out.
Azhar's dismissal triggered a panic situation in the Pakistan camp as they lost five wickets for an addition of just 53 runs. Hafeez and Sarfraz Ahmed (26) holed out in the deep in successive overs as Pakistan slumped to 145-6 by the 36th over.
randall@khaleejtimes.com