Visitors down Pakistan by three runs in nail-biting second match

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England’s team members celebrate their victory over Pakistan in the second T20 match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
England's team members celebrate their victory over Pakistan in the second T20 match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Dubai - It looked as though the tourists hadn't quite done enough with the bat first up for the second night in a row here, with captain Shahid Afridi (3-15) and Anwar Ali (2-27) returning economical figures to take five wickets between them.

By Alex Leach

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Published: Sat 28 Nov 2015, 11:00 PM

Last updated: Sun 29 Nov 2015, 11:17 AM

England scraped home to a three-run victory over Pakistan in the second Twenty20 (T20) tussle at Dubai International Stadium to seal the series.
It looked as though the tourists hadn't quite done enough with the bat first up for the second night in a row here, with captain Shahid Afridi (3-15) and Anwar Ali (2-27) returning economical figures to take five wickets between them.
They had, in fairness, managed to add 12 runs to their score from the first T20 to get up to 172-8, yet that tally still looked vulnerable against a pumped-up Pakistan XI in front of a capacity crowd.
Just two England batsmen, James Vince (38) and stand-in skipper Jos Buttler (33), made it past 30 and only one other name on the teamsheet - opener Jason Roy (29) - progressed beyond 20. England's innings contained nine fours and as many sixes, so 90 of their 172 runs were not really - theoretically - 'runs' at all.
Pakistan's reply was characterised by solid starts from their top four batsmen, with Ahmed Shehzad (28), Rafatullah Mohmand (23), Mohammad Hafeez (25) and Shoaib Malik (26) all making sturdy contributions.
Shoaib Maqsood (2) and Umar Akmal (3) failed to fire though between the dismissals of Hafeez and Malik, thereby leaving it to that man Afridi to get his side to within sight of a series-levelling success.
Coming in somewhat surprisingly as the eighth man to bat, it was a typical case of 'Boom Boom' by nickname, 'Boom Boom' by nature.
His characteristically belligerent knock of 24 off just eight balls, including three sixes and one four, resulted in Pakistan needing 23 off the final two overs.
Sarfraz Ahmed (19) got the equation down to 11 off five and Ali (3) and Tanvir (6) chipped away at it incrementally to set up a nerve-jangling finale.
One boundary off the very last ball would have meant there was something riding on the result in Sharjah on Monday night which starts at 8pm.
Nonetheless, Ali could only manage a complete air shot at a Chris Woakes delivery that carried on through to the gloves of Buttler, who thus marked his first taste of international captaincy at the highest level with a slender triumph.
"I loved the experience," the Lancashire wicketkeeper-batsman said. "I've obviously been vice captain for a while and it's a lot easier when you can give your two pennies' worth and then step back and not be accountable for the decision.
"But, I really enjoyed it. That extra responsibility - and the pressure of it - certainly makes the game a bit more emotional and to come out on the right side in the end made it a really enjoyable start."
Reflecting on the match and result overall as opposed to the whole occasion, the 25-year-old added: "We got into a position where we should have won the game more comfortably. Afridi came in though and played as he can and that put a lot of pressure on us.
"We didn't play our best throughout the game. But, we showed a lot of character with the bat and the ball to do just enough at the right times and fair play to Chris Woakes for having the guts to stand up in that last over and do the job."
alex@khaleejtimes.com 

> England
J. Roy c Ahmed b Afridi 29
A. Hales lbw b Afridi 11
J. Vince c Anwar b Afridi 38
J. Root c Afridi b Malik 20
J. Buttler c Ahmed b Tanvir 33
S. Billings c Umar b Riaz 11
D. Willey c Maqsood b Anwar 4
L. Plunkett c Ahmed b Anwar 1
C. Woakes not out 15
A Rashid not out 3
Extras: (lb1, w6) 7
> Total: (for eight wkts; 20 overs) 172
> Did not bat: S. Parry
> Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-47, 3-74, 4-109, 5-136, 6-150, 7-151, 8-154.
> Bowling: Anwar 4-0-27-2 (2w), Tanvir 4-0-43-1 (1w), Riaz 4-0-44-1 (2w), Afridi 4-0-15-3, Shehzad 1-0-10-0, Malik 3-0-32-1 (1w)
> Pakistan
A. Shehzad st Buttler b Parry 28
R. Mohmand st Buttler b Rashid 23
M. Hafeez c Willey b Plunkett 25
S. Malik c Root b Plunkett 26
S. Maqsood b Rashid 2
U. Akmal c Buttler b Plunkett 3
S. Ahmed b Woakes 20
S. Afridi c Plunkett b Woakes 24
A. Ali not out 3
S. Tanvir not out 6
Extras: (lb1, nb2, w6) 9
> Total: (for eight wkts; 20 overs) 169
> Did not bat: Wahab Riaz
> Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-60, 3-90, 4-93, 5-117, 6-120, 7-148, 8-162.
> Bowling: Willey 4-0-44-0 (1w), Woakes 4-0-40-2 (3w), Plunkett 4-0-33-3 (1nb, 1w), Parry 4-0-33-1, Rashid 4-0-18-2
> Result: England win by three runs


Britain's Andy Murray celebrates after winning his singles match against Belgium's Ruben Bemelmans on the first day of the Davis Cup final on Friday. — AFP
Britain's Andy Murray celebrates after winning his singles match against Belgium's Ruben Bemelmans on the first day of the Davis Cup final on Friday. — AFP
Stephen Parry got a crucial wicket for England. — Photo by Shihab
Stephen Parry got a crucial wicket for England. — Photo by Shihab
England’s team members celebrate their victory over Pakistan in the second T20 match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday. — Photo by Shihab
England’s team members celebrate their victory over Pakistan in the second T20 match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday. — Photo by Shihab

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