Pakistan vs England LIVE: Cricket score and result as Phil Salt blasts England to victory in Lahore
England trail seven-match series 3-2 and must beat Pakistan to avoid series defeat
England have no room for manoeuvre if they want to be triumphant in their seven-match T20I series against Pakistan. The hosts won the fifth game on Wednesday evening in a low scoring contest and now lead the series 3-2 with two matches to play.
Batting first, Pakistan set England a reachable target of 147 from their 20 overs but a collapse in the powerplay saw them fall to 31-3 with Alex Hales, Phil Salt and Ben Duckett all going cheaply. England managed to recover thanks to Moeen Ali’s 51 not out but they required 15 runs from the final over and some brilliant death bowling from debutant Aamir Jamal saw them fall eight runs short of victory.
This defeat comes on the back of another failed chase in the fourth T20I where England lost by four runs after Reece Topley ran himself out with five balls left in the innings. The tourists should have won both games and the consequence of these losses mean England must win the final two matches in Lahore to be victorious in the series. Can they get the job done this evening?
Follow all the action from the sixth T20I between Pakistan and England in Lahore:
The teams
Pakistan XI: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Haider Ali, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Aamer Jamal, Mohammad Wasim, Shahnawaz Dahani
England XI: Phil Salt, Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali (c), Sam Curran, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley, Richard Gleeson.
Pre-match thoughts of Moeen Ali
England captain, Moeen Ali, explains why he decided to bowl first today saying: “The wicket will stay good throughout today. In the last game it was a little bit tacky but we feel we have to chase well and win the game.
“If you play the way we play, you have to stick with your players as much as you can. It’s only fair. It’s not always about going hard, you’ve got to adapt to the conditions and that was the disappointing thing last game.
“Hopefully we can do that today and play well, and chase the runs down.”
Pakistand vs England team changes
Mohammad Rizwan and Haris Rauf are left out of the Pakistan team with Mohammad Haris coming in the keep wicket and open the batting whilst Shahnawaz Dahani slots back into the bowling attack.
For England, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes are taken out with Reece Topley and Richard Gleeson brought in.
England win the toss and bowl first
Moeen Ali has won the toss in Lahore and decided to bowl first. He says that he expects the wicket to stay true throughout the game and wants to chase.
Pakistan captain, Babar Azam, says he would have bowled first too.
England captain Jos Buttler ‘learning lots’ despite not playing in Pakistan
Jos Buttler believes his enforced watching brief in Pakistan has been an education that could help improve his captaincy.
A calf injury sustained during The Hundred could easily have ruled Buttler out of the trip, England’s first to the country in 17 years and the first since he took over the reins from Eoin Morgan.
But he insisted on travelling, partially to continue his rehabilitation work ahead of next month’s World Cup and also to lean into the responsibility of leadership.
While he has taken a hands-off role in terms of the on-field decision-making, delegating that to deputy Moeen Ali, he has been observing throughout the trip to pick up pointers about his squad.
England captain Jos Buttler ‘learning lots’ despite not playing in Pakistan
Buttler has a calf injury, which has ruled him out of the T20 series so far, but he insisted on travelling and has been observing throughout the trip.
Pakistan vs England
England captain, Moeen Ali, is 67 runs short of becoming the eighth Englishman to 1000 in T20Is.
Pakistan vs England
Babar Azam needs 52 more runs to reach 3000 in T20Is. If he does so in this next innings, his 81st in the format, he will equal the record held by India’s Virat Kohli.
Adil Rashid reveals how cricket is evolving to embrace diversity
Adil Rashid has explained how English cricket is evolving to embrace diversity, after a period in which the sport has been hit by numerous accusations of systemic racism.
In 2020, former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq alleged that he was the subject of racist slurs during his time at the club, and ex-teammate Gary Ballance later admitted to being one of the individuals culpable of using such language towards the 31-year-old.
The scandal led Yorkshire County Cricket Club to sack its entire coaching staff last December, after key figures in the organisation’s hierarchy resigned. Furthermore, there were hearings involving Rafiq and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Now, One Day International and Twenty20 England international Rashid has commented on the steps that English cricket is making to improve its culture.
Adil Rashid reveals how cricket is evolving to embrace diversity
Racism allegations made by Azeem Rafiq in 2020 led to a series of government hearings and major questions about the state of English cricket
Discrimination in cricket DCMS hearing to take place in mid-December
A new parliamentary committee hearing on discrimination in cricket is set to take place on December 13, the PA news agency understands.
Azeem Rafiq, who gave harrowing testimony about the racial abuse and bullying he experienced at Yorkshire to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee last November, is to be asked to reappear before the same committee alongside current Yorkshire chair Lord Kamlesh Patel.
December 13 has been pencilled in because the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report is expected to have been published the week before, allowing the committee of MPs to question representatives from the England and Wales Cricket Board about it.
The ICEC report was originally earmarked for publication in the autumn but is now expected in the week beginning December 5, PA understands.
Discrimination in cricket DCMS hearing to take place in mid-December
Azeem Rafiq and Lord Patel are set to be asked to appear.
Pakistan vs England
Mohammad Rizwan’s tally of 315 runs is already a record for a bilateral series. He needs 63 more from the final two games to go past France’s Gustav McKeon as the leading run-scorer in any multi-team T20I international series.
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