Pakistan ended the three-match series with a 1-1 draw against England at Old Trafford in Manchester. Wayne Morgan's team won the second after the first T20 was washed away in the rain. However, in the thrilling third and final T20 match, Babar Azam's team got a great victory by 5 runs.
In the last match of the series in Manchester on Tuesday (September 1), Babar Azam's team scored 190 runs for 4 wickets in 20 overs in Mohammad Hafeez's stormy fifty. In reply, despite Moin Ali's monstrous innings, England's innings came to a halt with 175 runs for 7 wickets.
Pakistan did not have a good start after losing the toss and opting to bat. In the second over, Fakhar Zaman was bowled by Moin's stumps. Tom Karan also bowled Babur who scored 21 runs in three fours. Pakistan, who lost two openers by 32 runs, went ahead with the determination of two batsmen at both ends of their careers.
Hafeez, 39, presented a pair of hundreds with 19-year-old Haider Ali. Haider, who hit a six off the second ball at the crease, made his T20I debut as the first Pakistan batsman to do so. The youngster, who scored 54 off 33 balls with five sixes and two fours, broke the 100-run partnership. Hafeez, who got the second fifty in a row, took the team to 200 runs.
Even today he played great pool and straight drive. He was unbeaten on six sixes and five fours off 52 balls. This is the highest number of any Pakistani batsman against England in this edition. Jordan took the highest 2 wickets for England with 29 runs in 4 overs. Moin and Karen shared the remaining two wickets.
Batting for 191 runs and winning the series, the English lost the first wicket to add only 1 run to the scoreboard. Shahin Afridi bowled opener and wicketkeeper Johnny Bairstow and returned empty-handed. Later, David Malan (6) returned for 26 runs. Captain Eoin Morgan (10) left the team under pressure. The team's run was 85 then. With just four more runs added to the scoreboard, opener Tom Burton (47), who was playing great, fell victim to lbw off Rauf's ball.
From there, Moin continued to show England the dream of victory. The experienced all-rounder continues to lead with Sam Billings (26). But he could not form a big alliance with his teammates. Lewis Gregory (12), Jordan (1) quickly left Moin to fight alone. Wahab Riaz played an innings of 61 off 33 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes before returning to the dressing room in the fifth ball of the 18th over.
The English needed 16 runs in the last over to win. Karen and Adil Rashid did not fail to try. They were dreaming of winning with Karen's six off the fifth ball of the 19th over. But in the last ball, he could not do without Rauf's ball boundary.
Wahab took 2 wickets for 26 runs. Afridi, who bowled at a cost in the previous match, took 2 wickets for 26 runs. Hafeez, who got two fifties in a row, won the award for the best match and series.
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