Lancashire batsman Phil Salt’s scintillating display of attacking batting blew away a hapless Pakistan as visitors England drew level in the series. Salt, who scored a brilliant 88* in a highly impactful performance, will be delighted that his return to form comes at such a crucial juncture, with the T20 World Cup barely two weeks away.
His innings ensured that England shattered the 170-run target in just about 14 overs, as an exciting decider was set up, with the series locked at 3-3. Nevertheless, the hosts will take solace from the fact that they fielded a relatively inexperienced bowling attack in the absence of Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi. Another positive from a Pakistani point of view was skipper Babar Azam’s performance, as the elegant right-hander scored a 59-ball 87.
Moeen Ali won the toss and decided to bowl first at the Gaddafi Stadium. Pakistan’s decision to replace Mohammed Rizwan with the potentially explosive Mohammed Haris did not quite work out, as Lancashire pacer Richard Gleeson got rid of him. David Willey compounded Pakistan’s troubles as he sent back Shan Masood for a two-ball duck.
Azam and Haider Ali stitched together a brief partnership before all-rounder Sam Curran struck to leave Pakistan in a state of concern at 62/3. At this point, it was Babar Azam who revived the innings with a couple of boundaries, as he allowed Ifthikar Ahmed to settle in. Babar was looking poised for another century in the series, but to the credit of the English bowlers, Pakistan’s scoring momentum came down in the final few overs.
Azam and Ifthikar tried their best to take their side to a big total, but could only finish on 169/6. The skipper ended on an unbeaten 87 as the Pakistan bowlers had quite the task on their hands.
Babar reached 3,000 T20I runs during the course of his innings, becoming the joint-fastest to reach the milestone, tied with Indian maestro Virat Kohli in 81 innings. However, he received limited support from his teammates as Pakistan stumbled to 169.
In response, Salt went on a rampage, taking the Pakistan bowling to the cleaners. He emulated Cameron Green’s recent effort against India, reaching his fifty in just 19 balls, the third fastest by an Englishman in T20I cricket. Salt’s exhilarating innings put England firmly in the driver’s seat, as the visitors racked up a massive 82 in the powerplay.
To add to the hosts’ troubles, the Englishmen added a further 35 in the next two overs to finish the game as a contest beyond a shadow of a doubt. The normally explosive Hales was looking pale in comparison to his opening partner, although he himself was going at a strike rate above 200, before being dismissed for 27 in the last ball of the fourth over.
All the batsmen who came in to the middle could but only play a supporting role to the Lancashire lad. Former No.1 ranked T20I batsman Dawid Malan went back into the pavilion after scoring an 18-ball 26. Ben Duckett, whose County side Nottinghamshire were promoted to Division One of the Championship, was the last batsman to make his way to the pitch.
Duckett was instrumental in the Notts’ successful County Championship campaign, scoring in excess of 1,000 runs in the season. Duckett missed the final against Durham as he was on national duty, as his side brushed their opponents aside by 462 runs. The left-hander played second fiddle to Salt as the two knocked off the remaining runs to level the series, setting up an interesting final game on Sunday.
