England toil to tepid total

Dubai - Displaying the luck of the Irish once again, Dublin-born Morgan won the toss and chose to bat first for the third T20 game in succession.

Some slack shot selections saw England slump to 154-8 and hand Pakistan a relatively modest target to chase in the third and final Twenty20 international here at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday night.
Pretty poor batting characterised the away side's innings out in the middle, where only James Vince, Joe Root and Chris Woakes progressed past 15. Jason Roy and Moeen Ali both perished for first-ball ducks.
Displaying the luck of the Irish once again, Dublin-born Morgan won the toss and chose to bat first for the third T20 game in succession.
The tourists got off to the worst possible start though as debutant Aamer Yamin made an instant impact with his very first delivery of the evening.
He got one to nip back in and pin Roy (0) on the pads and the ball probably would have gone on to hit leg stump, even if the Hawk-Eye replay judged it rather inconclusively - and unsatisfactorily - as the 'umpire's call.'
It was nonetheless just the breakthrough the hosts would have wanted and it got them - and this partisan crowd - going in the early stages. Sohail Tanvir duly almost had the other opener, Vince, caught and bowled with the second ball of the next over, although it was a sharp chance that came at him quickly.
Third-man-in Root had no such early scares and that gave him the inherent confidence to start opening his arms up and swinging for the fences.
Indeed, he had hit four fours and one six to get beyond 30 by the fifth over, with Vince primarily playing a supporting role at this juncture.
Pakistan needed someone to intervene and, much like in the second T20 tussle in Dubai last weekend, skipper Shahid Afridi brought himself on to destructive effect.
Two dot balls and as many singles had stymied England's prior momentum and Root's patience finally snapped as he took aim, missed and 'Boom Boom' didn't to peg back his leg stump.
It was two in two mere moments later, with Ali (0) looking to sky a short delivery and only succeeding in offering it straight back to the bowler to give Afridi the scent of a hat-trick upon his return to the crease.
alex@khaleejtimes.com