On Friday, Pakistan recorded their highest ever total in T20Is, with the help of a 150-run opening stand between Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam against England in Nottingham. Both the openers laid the foundation for a huge total of 232/6.
In reply, the English batsmen could add just seven runs in their first over of the innings. World No. 1 Dawid Malan opened with Jason Roy in the absence of Jos Buttler, who was ruled out of the first T20I against Pakistan due to calf injury.
Malan was, however, undone by two pieces of brilliance from fast bowler Shaheen Afridi. First, the left-armer foxed Malan with a slower ball that held up in the pitch, and then he made a full-length dive to grab the ball, with the white leather miscued firmly back down the pitch.
Here’s the video:
A sensational effort from Shaheen Afridi 😱#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/1hSLmhMaDB
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 16, 2021
Later, Liam Livingstone slammed the fastest T20I ton by an England player but couldn’t take his side over the finish line as Pakistan notched a 31-run win in the opening tie of the three-match series.
Livingstone hit nine sixes and six fours during his 43-ball 103, but the visitors held their nerve to eke out a hard-fought victory in a high-scoring encounter. All-rounder Shadab Khan turned the game in Pakistan’s favour by dismissing Lewis Gregory (10) and Livingstone in the 17th over. The hosts couldn’t make a comeback from that point and lost the contest by 31 runs.
