BRISBANE: England batters displayed a combined effort to chase down 161 in the 15th over and bolstered their side to beat Pakistan by six wickets in the warm-up match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.
Set to chase 161 in 19 overs, England comfortably steered to victory in the 15th over with six wickets to spare.
England had an unwanted start to the run chase as right-arm speedster Naseem Shah struck in his first over to remove Phil Salt for one.
Ben Stokes then joined Alex Hales in the middle and anchored the run chase with a 46-run partnership for the second wicket.
The stand remained dominated by Stokes, who kept the scoreboard ticking rapidly before falling victim to Mohammad Wasim Jr in the sixth over. He scored 36 off 18, laced with two boundaries and three sixes.
Hales, on the other hand, fell in the next over after a snail-paced knock of nine off 13, consequently, causing England to slip to 51/3.
Meanwhile, hard-hitting batter Liam Livingstone also chipped in with a brilliant 28 off 16.
Harry Brook and Sam Curran then put on a match-winning 59-run partnership and led their side to victory with 26 balls to spare.
Brook top-scored for England with an astonishing knock of 45 not out off 24 deliveries, featuring two boundaries and four sixes, while Curran chipped in with an unbeaten cameo of 33 runs in just 14 deliveries.
Wasim Jr was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan as he bagged two wickets for 16, while Naseem and Shadab Khan picked up a wicket each.
Pakistan, batting first on the invitation of England’s captain Jos Buttler finished at 160/8 in their quota of 19 overs – revised after a brief rain interruption in the 12th over.
Left-handed batter Shan Masood and Haider Ali were promoted to open the innings for Pakistan as their regular pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan did not bat in the first warm-up, while all-rounder Shadab Khan acted as a stand-in captain.
The pair of Masood and Haider gave the side a solid start as they put on 49 runs for the first wicket and scored at a rapid pace.
Masood was the aggressor in the stand while Haider remained a bit cautious before falling in the fifth over after scoring 18 off 16.
Shan, who was looking solid to amass his half-century fell 11 short of it as he fell victim to Liam Livingstone in the seventh over.
The left-handed batter top-scored for Pakistan with a solid knock of 39 off just 22 deliveries, laced with seven boundaries.
Pakistan middle-order batters made small contributions with the bat before all-rounder Mohammad Wasim Jr chipped in with a crucial cameo.
His quickfire knock of 26 off just 16 deliveries bolstered Pakistan to a commendable total of 160/8 in 19 overs. His knock featured three boundaries and two sixes.
David Willey led the bowling attack for England with 2/22 while Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, and Livingstone made one scalp each.
