Liam Livingstone shattered the fastest T20I Century, scored by an English cricketer in just 42 balls against Pakistan, but his strike in vain when the guests secured a 31-run win in the first Twenty20 at Trent Bridge on Friday.
What makes this win commendable for Pakistan is that they beat England’s first team after being humiliated by the second row of hosts in the ODIs.
Morgan won the throw and decided to bowl first, but the move backfired when Pakistan took advantage of the short borders, beating 20 fours and 12 sixs, posting 232: 6 – the highest total in T20 internationals.
A lightning-fast opening booth of 150 in 15 overs between skipper Babar Azam and his deputy Mohammad Rizwan set the tone for Pakistan. Azam hit 85 of 49 balls and Rizwan 63 of 41 in a brilliant stand.
Fakhar Zaman (26 out of 8) and Mohammad Hafeez (24 out of 10) gave Pakistan’s innings with their 46-strong partnership with just 16 deliveries the perfect momentum to lead Pakistan to a record high.
In response, England are off to a terrible start as they lost four wickets in their first seven overs.
Seamer Shaheen Afridi (3/30) struck early to sack Dawid Malan and jumped forward to catch the prelude and bowling before catching Bairstow from a top edge to give England two losses in the fourth round leave.
Pakistan’s poor line-up was a big topic of conversation last ODI, but they showed up in the night making difficult catches at depth and even caused a run out with a direct hit.
Moeen Ali fell when Haris Rauf made a bizarre catch in the depths and held on to the ball as he jumped into Sohaib Maqsood’s arms when his teammate tried to avoid a collision, while Jason Roy (32) did not have a bright place could catch up with start.
Livingstone hit a flurry of sixes to initially bring England’s fastest T20 fifty in just 17 balls. Livingstone’s 42-ball century turned the tide for England. His century came with his ninth six – more than the rest of the team combined – but he was the closest ball to a boundary catch from Shaheen Shah Afridi at 183-7 in the 17th, and so it went to England.
England were eliminated for 201.
Short notes
Pakistan: 232 for 6 in 20 overs (Babar Azam 85, Mohammad Rizwan 63, Fakhar Zaman 26, Mohammed Hafeez 24; Tom Curran 2/47)England: 201 in 20 overs (Liam Livingstone 103, Jason Roy 32; Afridi 3/30, Shadab Khan 3/52)
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