England set tough task

Dubai - England won the toss and stand-in skipper Jos Buttler did exactly what his now-rested predecessor Eoin Morgan had done 24 hours earlier in electing to bat first.

 Shahid 'Boom Boom' Afridi underlined his importance to Pakistan's Twenty20 (T20) side to stifle England's mid-innings momentum in front of a capacity crowd at Dubai International Stadium here on Friday evening.
Having failed to ignite with the bat the night before, Afridi (3-15) responded with the ball in hand - and how - to help restrict the tourists to 172-8 out there in the middle at the 'Ring of Fire.'
England won the toss and stand-in skipper Jos Buttler did exactly what his now-rested predecessor Eoin Morgan had done 24 hours earlier in electing to bat first.
The tourists' two openers, Alex Hales and Jason Roy, had hardly looked at their most assured during Thursday's 14-run win at the very same venue as both men didn't break the double-digit barrier.
Anwar Ali and Sohail Tanvir's opening spells had dislodged the duo on that occasion, yet they seemed better equipped to deal with Pakistan's frontline attack this time around for some reason. Indeed, the fact captain Afridi replaced Tanvir with Wahab Riaz for the third over was arguably indicative of how much better Hales and Roy were faring against the seamers.
However, Afridi's masterstroke - and Pakistan's breakthrough - arrived at the start of the fourth, when he himself struck with his first cherry.
The flamboyant all-rounder, 35, got his initial delivery to dart back in and Hales (11) was caught flat-footed and absolutely plumb in front.
Roy (29) followed him back to the hutch just six Afridi balls later, with a thin edge behind to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed who was stood up behind the stumps. Ahmed was somewhat startled at first and seemed set to see the chance slip through his fingers, yet he did still manage to finally scoop it up mere inches off the ground.
alex@khaleejtimes.com