England leg-spinner Adil Rashid recorded his career-best figures in T20 internationals on Tuesday and guided his side a thrilling win over Pakistan in the series decider at the Old Trafford, Manchester.
Victory also gave England the three-match contest 2-1 in their last limited-overs game of the 2021 home season.
Rashid picked up four wickets for 35 runs and helped the hosts in restricting Pakistan on 154-6 after the visitors won the toss and opted to bat first.
Chasing the competitive total, England opener Jason Roy (64 off 36) gave his side a flying start but, in the middle overs, the Men in Green chipped away with wickets. No. 8 Chris Jordan had to sprint through for the winning runs with just two balls and three wickets remaining.
“This win means a huge amount,” Eoin Morgan, the winning captain told Sky Sports.
“This was the worst possible pitch for the way we play, and we have won on a wicket which is slow and spins so I am very proud.”
Pitches in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the venue for this year’s T20 World Cup, are spinner friendly but Morgan said: “I genuinely don’t think the ball will spin like that in UAE having played a full season in the IPL (Indian Premier League) there last year, but we are ready for any surfaces that do spin.”
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Top game this well played by both teams @TheRealPCB and @ECB_cricket . In the end better team won . Well fought team Pakistan.
— Salman Butt (@im_SalmanButt) July 20, 2021
What an entertaining game of cricket that was !
Congratulations @englandcricket for winning the series. #PAKvENG— Azhar Mahmood (@AzharMahmood11) July 20, 2021
Congratulations @ECB_cricket #ENGvPAK 🇵🇰🏴 pic.twitter.com/P4k7zXV6j7
— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) July 20, 2021
You are not going to win too many T20Is if 5 of your top 6 batsmen only score a combined 51 runs off 52 balls #ENGvPAK #Cricket
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) July 20, 2021
What a game. What a series. Full houses, sun, tight finishes, & cool tactical skirmishes for the nerds. Doesn’t get much better. #ENGvPAK
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) July 20, 2021
Adil Rashid is the first England men's spinner to take 4-fer in a T20I at home.#ENGvPAK
— hypocaust (@_hypocaust) July 20, 2021
Fantastic knock from Jason Roy, it has been a long time, 64 runs from just 34 balls including 12 fours and 1 six – he was batting on a different pitch. #ENGvPAK
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 20, 2021
Career-best T20I figures for Adil Rashid 👏
4️⃣-0️⃣-3️⃣5️⃣-4️⃣#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/EJ6VQXKG6s
— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) July 20, 2021
Adil Rashid is a spinner who easily deceives and fumbles the greats of the modern day cricket ie Virat Kohli and Babar Azam!👏 #ENGvPAK
— Arfa Feroz Zake (@ArfaSays_) July 20, 2021
A fittingly thrilling climax to what's been a brilliantly entertaining series. England were the better team…but only just. Congratulations England.
Commiserations Pakistan.
Fantastic cricket.
I love this game 🏏 #ENGvPAK— Aatif Nawaz (@AatifNawaz) July 20, 2021
🏆YES BOYS GET IN 🏆
✅ T20s vs SL
✅ ODIs vs SL✅ ODIs vs PAK
✅ T20s vs PAKWhite-ball summer clean sweep complete! 😍#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/f0Qw4aCjXD
— England's Barmy Army 🏴🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) July 20, 2021
