Manchester: England set a huge target for victory in the second T20I against Pakistan. After losing the toss and opting to bat, the visitors scored 195 for four in the allotted overs. Mohammad Hafeez (69 off 36 balls) and Babur Assam (56 off 44 balls) were the main contributors to Pakistan’s innings. Adil Rashid took two wickets for England.
The opening pair of Assam and Fakhar Zaman gave Pakistan a flying start. Both added 72 runs for the first wicket. Pakistan lost the first wicket in the ninth over. Saman was dismissed by Adil Rashid. Assam then added 40 runs with Hafeez. But after dismissing Assam, Rashid again gave England a breakthrough. Assam’s innings consisted of seven fours off 44 balls. Hafeez found five fours and four sixes.
Hafeez led Pakistan to a superb score with veteran Shoaib Malik (14) being dismissed earlier but Iftikhar Ahmed (8 not out). Hafeez was dismissed in the last over. Shadab Khan (0) remained unbeaten with Iftikhar. Chris Jordan and Tom Karan took one wicket each. The first match of the three-match T20 series was marred by rain.
