After being badly beaten in ODIs, Pakistan started the T20 series with a win. In the first match of the three-match T20I series, Pakistan defeated England by 31 runs in a high-scoring match. Batting first, Pakistan scored 232 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs thanks to the innings of captain Babar Azam (85) and wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan (63). In response, despite Liam Livingstone’s century, the entire England team was all out for 201 runs.
Chasing the target of 233 runs, the English team did not have a good start and opener David Malan became the victim of Shaheen Afridi by scoring just 1 run. After this Jonny Bairstow (11) who came to the crease also could not do anything special. At the same time, after putting some strong shots, Jason Roy (32) also kept walking. Liam Livingstone completed his century in 42 balls, continuously hitting from one end, but he did not get the support of any batsman from the other end. Livingstone became the victim of Shadab Khan after playing a brilliant innings of 103 runs in 43 balls. For Pakistan, Shaheen Afrida took three wickets giving 30 runs while bowling excellently.
Earlier, batting after losing the toss, captain Babar Azam and Rizwan gave a blazing start to the Pakistan team and together they put on a partnership of 150 runs for the first wicket. Rizwan returned to the pavilion after playing a brilliant innings of 63 runs in 41 balls. Fakhar Zaman, who usually plays the role of an opener, came out to bat at number four in this match and he scored 26 runs in just 8 balls. However, Fakhar could not convert his blistering start into a big innings. For England, Tom Curran took 2 and David Willey and Mahmood took one wicket each.
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