Pakistan ended their tour of England on a high, as they defeated the hosts at Manchester to wrap up the tour in some serious fashion. On a good deck for batting, where the ball came on to the bat nicely, the Pakistani bowlers put on a spirited show to restrict the aggressive English batsmen. The damage was done right at the top by left-arm spinner Imad Wasim, as he dismissed both openers on fullish deliveries.
But the main thorn in England’s flesh was Wahab Riaz. Just when it seemed that the hosts could recover and post a decent total, Riaz struck and depleted all chances of an English comeback. He ended with figures of 2-18 in his four overs. Post the loss, skipper Eoin Morgan admitted that there just weren’t enough runs for his bowlers to have a crack at.
“During Pakistan’s powerplay, the ball skidded on nicely so we thought the pacers would be effective,”
said Morgan.
“ I still like to think we’re on an upward curve. Our consistency in 50-over cricket and T20 cricket has been fantastic. Credit to our bowlers. Didn’t have enough runs, unfortunately, today. It’s been a really busy two and a half weeks, I’ll have a few days off, think about it, and then make a decision about touring Bangladesh. You have to be comfortable enough about taking the field,”
the England captain said.
Pakistan’s new T20I skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed couldn’t have asked for a better start to his captaincy stint. Ahmed mentioned that he asked his side to play positively before the game.
“Credit goes to the bowlers and then Sharjeel and Latif played well. Imad bowled well but Hasan Ali who was on debut bowled really well. When we arrived, we had a meeting during which I just said to play positive cricket without any pressure,”
Sarfraz Ahmed, the Pakistan captain, concluded.