England bowlers restrict Pakistan to 158/7 despite Rizwanโs heroics
KARACHI: England bowlers displayed combined effort to hold their nerves calm and restrict Pakistan to 158/7 in 20 overs despite top-ranked T20I batter Mohammad Rizwanโs brilliant half-century as the middle-order failed again.
At the toss of the first T20I, England stand-in captain Moeen Ali put Pakistan into bat first after the coin flipped in his favour.
Batting first, Pakistan were off to a flying start as openers Babar Azam and Rizwan amassed 85 runs for the first wicket at a rapid pace.
The pair was majorly dominated by Rizwan as he was scoring with a healthy strike rate, while Babar, who was struggling to find the rhythm despite playing some magnificent cover drives, fell to Adil Rashid in the 10th over, courtesy of an astonishing googly. The right-handed batter scored 31 off 24 deliveries, laced with three boundaries.
The top-ranked T20I batter Rizwan remained unaffected by Babarโs dismissal as he continued to keep the scoreboard ticking single-handedly while Haider Ali could score a snail-paced 11
