England vs Pakistan, 2nd T20I, Report: Eoin Morgan And Dawid Malan Blitz Secures A Series Lead For England

Eoin Morgan and Dawid Malan powered England to a series lead as they chased down a monster score of 196 with five wickets to spare. The skipper led the way after Tom Banton and Jonny Bairstow sparked an explosive start in pursuit of a mammoth chase as Malan hit the winning boundary to seal the win.

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Pakistan got off to a blistering start of their own as Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman added 72 in only 52 deliveries. Left-hander Zaman was the first to go as he mistimed a slog sweep for Banton to pouch at long-on. Babar Azam raised a smooth fifty; however, he could not convert it to a big one. It was Mohammad Hafeez, who took charge to unleash the big shots and trouble the English bowlers.

With his first boundary, the 39-year old reached 2000 T20I runs and shared a half-century stand with Shoaib Malik, who hammered a quick-fire 14. For the late flourish, Hafeez and Iftikhar Ahmed added 32 more as the former perished in the second-last delivery for a 36-ball 69 to take the tourists to nearly 200.

Eoin Morgan and Dawid Malan handle pressure for England well after successive losses:

Tom Banton and Jonny Bairstow added a flashing partnership of 66 in less than six overs before Shadab Khan removed them in successive deliveries. With two new batsmen in the crease, the pressure was on them since the asking rate went beyond 10. It was Morgan, who got the timely boundaries as Malan gave him company by scampering the singles and doubles initially.

The equation became the most comfortable for the hosts in the 15th over when Morgan took Shaheen Afridi for 20 runs. With a slog-sweep in the second delivery of that over, the skipper completed his fifty off 27 deliveries. The 20-run over forced Pakistan to defend 34 runs in only 30 deliveries.

Morgan holed out to Khushdil Shah at deep backward square two overs later for 66 for which he eventually got adjudged as the man of the match; however, England needed only 18 by then. It also ended a partnership of 112. The hosts lost Moeen Ali and Sam Billings too in the next couple of overs; however, Malan, the half-centurion denied Pakistan a come-from-behind victory.