Birmingham: Pakistan faced defeat against England after falling short of 23 runs in the second T20I of the four-match series at the Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham, on Saturday.
Babar Azam and Co. were bowled out for 160 while chasing a target of 184. This is England’s eighth win in the last 11 T20Is against Pakistan.
Fakhar Zaman starred for Pakistan in a losing cause as the left-handed batter played an explosive knock of 45 runs off 21 balls with the help of three fours and five sixes. Skipper Babar Azam scored 32 runs on 26 balls as he was the second-highest run-getter.
Meanwhile, down the order, Iftikhar Ahmed (23 off 17) and Imad Wasim (22 off 13) provided crucial runs but they weren’t enough to propel Pakistan to victory.
For England, Reece Topley picked three wickets. Moeen Ali and Jofra Archer bagged two each while Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone picked one.
Earlier, Jos Buttler played a captain’s knock and scored 84 runs on 51 balls with the help of eight fours and three sixes. During the process, he also completed 3,000 runs in T20I cricket, becoming only the ninth player in the shorter format to do so.
Pakistan were off to a great start as Imad Wasim removed Phil Salt in the fourth over but England recovered brilliantly as Buttler and Will Jacks formed a 71-run partnership which brought the home side back in the game.
The hosts looked on course of reaching a massive total but the impressive comeback by Pakistani bowlers especially Haris Rauf, Imad and Shaheen stopped them.
Jacks scored 37 off 23 with six boundaries while Jonny Bairstow contributed 21 runs. Meanwhile, the likes of Harry Brook, Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone failed to score in double digits.
Jofra Archer scored 12 runs in the last over which helped England conclude their innings at 183/7 in the allocated overs.
For Pakistan, Shaheen bagged three wickets while Imad and Rauf picked two each. While Shadab Khan and Mohammad Amir failed to take a single wicket.
