Manchester: Eoin Morgan and Dawid Malan combined to help England make light of a record run chase in T20Is at Emirates Old Trafford, overhauling their target to beat Pakistan by five wickets.
Despite Pakistan recording their highest ever T20I score against England, Morgan’s innings of 66 from 32 balls and Malan’s unbeaten 54 from 36 helped England seize victory with five deliveries in hand. The result puts England one-up in the three match series ahead of the final game on Tuesday.
It seems extraordinary that Morgan gave any thought to retiring following England’s World Cup success. He currently appears to be in the form of his life, having passed 50 in four of his most recent seven T20I games. Since March 2019, he is averaging 59.37 in T20Is at a strike rate of 183.39.
Here he survived a confident appeal for leg before he had scored – reviews showed the ball would have hit middle stump, but Morgan survived on the basis of umpire’s call on impact – and then allowed himself a few balls to adjust to the pace of the surface, scoring 3 off his first six balls before accelerating. From the start of the 12th, England plundered 75 in five overs after appearing to target Iftikhar Ahmed, who was taken for 18 in one over, and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was taken for 20 in another.
Malan also sustained his impressive showing in T20I cricket. He has now made at least a half-century in seven of his 12 games – a record for any player in his first 12 matches – and averages 54.60 in the format.
While he was content to play a supporting role to Morgan for much of their partnership of 112 in 10.2 overs, England were glad for his calm head once Morgan departed. There were still 18 runs required from 19 balls at that stage and, with Moeen Ali soon following, England could have wobbled.
But Malan, whose ability to pace an innings must render him a strong contender to retain his place in England’s squad for the T20Is against Australia, showed why he is England’s highest-rated T20I batsman by seeing his side home.
Earlier, Mohammad Hafeez produced his highest T20I score since 2013 to help Pakistan to their highest T20I score against anyone since June 2018.
