Manchester:Eoin Morgan and Dawid Malan hit half-centuries, as England beat Pakistan by five wickets in the second T20I, taking 1-0 lead in the three-match series at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Pakistan scored 195/4 in 20 overs, building on Babar Azam's 56 and Mohammad Hafeez's 69.
In reply, Eoin Morgan (66) and David Malan (54*), put on a 112 runs partnership for the third wicket to take the England to a relatively comfortable win.
Pakistan got off to a good start after being put in to bat first, as Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam put on their side's first fifty opening stand in T20Is since 2018. Fakhar eventually fell in the ninth over for 36, with Adil Rashid picking up the wicket.
Rashid struck again a few overs later to remove Babar too, though not before the Pakistan captain had brought up his 14th T20I half-century.From there on, Mohammad Hafeez smoked a 36-ball 69, including four sixes, before he fell with just one ball left in the visitors' innings.
During chase, England also got off to an excellent start, as Tom Banton and Jonny Bairstow took on the Pakistan bowlers during the Powerplay.
They had taken the score to 65/0 at the end of six overs, but Shadab Khan removed the pair with consecutive deliveries, leaving Morgan and Malan with a lot of work still to do.
Morgan got going quickly though, slog sweeping his seventh ball over the rope for six off Shadab.
Pakistan struggled to build any pressure, particularly after Mohammad Amir went off injured after bowling just two overs, and only twice during Malan and Morgan's 10.2 over partnership did the bowlers manage to bowl consecutive dot balls.Morgan finally fell for a 33-ball 66. Soon, Moeen Ali got out, as England needed 14 runs from the final 14 balls, with Malan still at the crease.
The new man Sam Billings then released the pressure, hitting Haris Rauf for back-to-back fours in the penultimate over to bring the scores level, before guiding a shot off the back foot to point.
Finally, Malan hit a boundary off the first ball of the 20th over to get England over the line.
England now lead the series 1-0 with the final T20I to be played at the same venue on Tuesday.(UNI)
