Losing skipper Babar Azam regretted his dismissal in the second T20I against England in the chase of 201 as he reckoned his wicket changed the momentum of the game. On the other hand, Jos Buttler was very happy with the victory in a must-win game and praised the spinners for their brilliant display.
The opening combination of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan has done wonders for Pakistan in T20 internationals. They had set up the base for Pakistan’s first T20I win too, adding 150 runs inside 15 overs. In the second game as well, they were going strong and had added 50 runs for the first wicket but then Saqib Mahmood struck to send back Babar Azam after the Pakistan skipper was looking in imperious touch in the chase of 201 runs for the Men in Green.
Once they lost their skipper, Pakistan kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and from 50 for no loss at one stage, they lost half of their side under 100 runs and eventually fell short of the win by a long margin. Speaking in the post-match presentation, the Pakistan skipper Babar Azam rued his dismissal and claimed that it changed the momentum of the game completely. He also admitted that Pakistan gave away 30 extra runs to allow England to reach 200.
“We gave away 30 extra runs and we weren’t able to maintain the momentum that we got with the opening partnership. We had confidence in chasing, and my wicket was crucial because we lost momentum with that wicket. Shadab and Imad bowled well, but it didn’t spin as much in the first innings as it did in the second innings. We’ll try not to repeat the mistakes in the next game and win,” Babar said after the game.
In a do-or-die game, the English batters put up a top-show led by their stand-in-skipper Jos Buttler, who hammered a fifty on his return. But it was impressive cameos from the bat of Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone that made the difference. With the ball in hand, the spin trio of Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali and Matt Parkinson were unstoppable as they combined scalped five wickets for 87 runs in 11 overs and helped England win the game.
Buttler was pleased with the team’s display and praised the spinners for doing a great job as they drew level with Pakistan in the three-match series 1-1 after a comprehensive 45-run win.
“We put together a great score after losing the toss. Adil has been fantastic for a very long time, and Parky bowled well in tandem with him. It’s great to be back in the team and nice to contribute today. We got a very good performance in today. We had two good games, and I’m sure the decider will be brilliant as well.”
The series-decider between both the teams will be played on July 20, which will mark the end of the white-ball series and the tour for Pakistan.