Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

England crush Pakistan in seventh T20 to take series

Reuters
England won the series decisively
England won the series decisivelyAFP
A sublime fifty from Dawid Malan and three wickets for Chris Woakes guided England to a thumping 67-run win over Pakistan in the seventh Twenty20 in Lahore on Sunday as they clinched the series 4-3 in a major boost ahead of the World Cup.

Chasing 210, Pakistan suffered a double blow when captain Babar Azam (4) and Mohammad Rizwan (1) departed in quick succession as England's pace attack made early inroads and reduced the hosts to 33-3 under the lights at Gaddafi Stadium.

Shan Masood put up some resistance with a fighting 56 but England, led by Woakes (3-26), kept chipping away with regular wickets. David Willey returned figures of 2-22 while Reece Topley, Adil Rashid and Sam Curran picked up a wicket each.

Earlier, England lost both openers cheaply after being asked to bat before Malan (78) and Harry Brook (46) shared an unbeaten 108-run stand for the fourth wicket to power the tourists to 209-3 in 20 overs.

Mohammad Wasim (0-61) and Shadab Khan (0-39) bore the brunt of their assault as Malan and Brook made the most of Pakistan's sloppiness in the field, with Babar guilty of offering reprieves to both batsmen.

England continue their preparations for the World Cup with a three-match series against Australia starting next Sunday, while Pakistan face Bangladesh and New Zealand in a tri-series from Friday. The World Cup in Australia gets underway on Oct. 16.

India beat South Africa by 16

 India beat South Africa by 16 runs in a high-scoring Twenty20 international in Guwahati on Sunday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series as David Miller and Quinton de Kock's unbeaten 174-run stand was in vain.

Chasing an imposing 237, the visitors fell short as India's imperious batting performance helped them clinch victory as well as their first home T20 series win over South Africa.

Miller struck a fine 106 off 47 balls and his unbeaten stand for the fourth wicket with opener De Kock threatened to take the game away from India but the task ultimately proved too much.

South Africa were reeling at 5-2 at the end of the second over after Temba Bavuma and Rilee Rossouw fell for ducks to Arshdeep Singh. Aiden Markram then hit 33 from 19 in a valiant effort but De Kock struggled to a 48-ball 69.

Play was stopped in the third over of the chase after one of the four floodlight towers in the stadium went out. It was the second interruption of the match after a snake slithered onto the field in a bizarre turn of events early in India's innings.

India were put in to bat and smashed over 150 runs in boundaries to reach a commanding 237-3, thanks to Suryakumar Yadav's blazing 22-ball 61 after opener KL Rahul had got off the blocks in a flash to make 57 from 28.

Keshav Maharaj provided the visitors with a breakthrough by ending the 96-run opening stand, dismissing skipper Rohit Sharma (43) in the 10th over before trapping Rahul leg before wicket in the 12th to finish with an excellent 2-23.

Yadav joined Virat Kohli on the crease with the momentum seemingly shifting towards South Africa but did not take long to settle in, continuing his sparkling form to bring up a half century in only 18 balls.

Kohli finished unbeaten on a 28-ball 49 and Dinesh Karthik smacked 17 in his seven-ball cameo as India reached their fourth-highest total in T20s.

The final match of the series will be played in Indore on Tuesday.

Follow the Twenty20 Internationals