LAHORE: England won the toss and elected to bowl first against Pakistan in the fifth T20I here at Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.
The historic seven-match T20I series is currently level at 2-2.
PLAYING XIs
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Aamir Jamal, Mohammad Nawaz, Asif Ali, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr
England: Moeen Ali (c), Phil Salt (wk), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
HEAD TO HEAD
Matches-25, England-16, Pakistan-8, No Result-1
LAHORE: Pakistan’s young fast bowler Naseem Shah will not be available for the fifth T20I as well after he missed the last three matches against England during the ongoing series.
Naseem was taken to the hospital last night as he suffered a viral infection, but he is feeling better now, confirmed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesperson.
“Naseem was taken to hospital on Tuesday night with a viral infection and will not be available for Wednesday’s match,” said PCB spokesperson.
Moreover, the right-arm pacer’s availability for the last two T20Is of the seven-match series will be decided after assessing his medical reports.
The 19-year-old played the first T20I of the ongoing series and returned unimpressive bowling figures of 0/41.
The T20I series is currently level at 2-2 after the completion of the Karachi leg of England’s historic tour of Pakistan.
Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium will now host the remaining three matches.
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LAHORE: The heavy and persistent rainfall in the city has led to the cancellation of scheduled training sessions on Tuesday (today) at Gaddafi Stadium.
The fifth match of the historic seven-match T20I series between Pakistan and England will be played tomorrow at the same venue.
The drizzly weather of the city appears to be upsetting for millions of cricket fans who are eagerly waiting for tomorrow’s match.
Earlier both the team reached Lahore on Monday after facing each other in four T20I games held at Karachi’s National Stadium.
The action-filled Karachi leg of the tour witnessed full houses and knife-edged competitions between the two teams as the series is currently level at 2-2.
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KARACHI: Fast bowler Haris Rauf disclosed that he had planned beforehand how to bowl Liam Dawson and other tail-enders in the 19th over and turn the game into Pakistan’s favour.
The right-arm pacer powered the Green Shirts to a thrilling win in the fourth T20I against England as he bowled a match-winning second-last over when the game was just slipping away from the hosts’ hand.
Speaking to a post-match press conference, Haris revealed that he had started making plans in the 18th over, when Dawson was storming Mohammad Hasnain and scored 24 runs, that how he would be bowling to him in the next over.
“I had an idea where to bowl him and obviously the target was to take his wicket at that moment and turn the game,” he said.
“I had confidence that if I bowled my best deliveries to the tail-enders, we would win the match,” he added.
England fell just three runs short in the final over, courtesy of a brilliant 19th over from Haris, who struck twice to remove the danger man Liam Dawson and Olly Stone to bring the hosts back in the game after an expensive 18th over from Hasnain.
With the astounding win, Pakistan have levelled the historic seven-match T20I series against England by 2-2 with the remaining three matches to be played at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.
READ: Haris trumps Dawson’s brilliance as Pakistan sink England in fourth T20I
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) barred local news channels from reporting the live location and movement of the England Men’s cricket team amid their tour to Pakistan for seven-match T20I series.
As England is on the historic tour to Pakistan after a gap of almost 17 years, the touring side is being given tight security including a presidential-level convoy that accompanies the touring side amid their movement from hotel to stadium and vice versa.
In the latest development, however, the PEMRA has decided to restrict the local news channels and its licensees from airing the live locations of the cricket teams, specifically the English team.
“In order to avoid security implications, all satellite TV Channel licensees are hereby directed to refrain from airing live locations of cricket teams specifically the English cricket team while their movement from airport to the hotel, hotel to stadium and back to hotel and airport etc,” the PEMRA announced in a statement.
It is pertinent to mention that England currently lead the seven-match series 2-1 following their victory over Pakistan in the third T20I.
READ: PAK v ENG: Green Shirts to play 200th T20I today
KARACHI: England won the toss and opted to bowl first in the fourth T20I against Pakistan here at National Stadium, Karachi.
England currently have a 2-1 lead in the historic seven-match T20I series.
PLAYING XIs
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Asif Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Wasim
England: Moeen Ali (c), Phil Salt (wk), Alex Hales, Will Jacks, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, David Willey, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Olly Stone, Reece Topley
HEAD TO HEAD
Matches-24, England-16, Pakistan-7, No Result-1
KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket team will be featuring in its 200th T20 international match on Sunday as they take on England in the fourth T20I here at National Stadium Karachi.
The Green Shirts will be the first team to achieve the milestone as the side currently holds the record for playing the most number of T20I matches.
Interestingly, the team will be playing its landmark T20I against the same opponent, it had competed in its very first game of the shortest format, back in 2006 at Bristol.
Pakistan won that match by five wickets.
It is pertinent to mention here that the national team will be looking to level the seven-match series today as England currently lead the series by 2-1.
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KARACHI: Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar added one more jewel to his crown as he surpassed legendary batter Inzamam ul Haq for scoring the most number of centuries as the national team captain.
The skipper achieved the feat during the second T20I against England on Thursday, when he blasted a phenomenal ton to guide the Green Shirts to a clinical 10-wicket win.
The astounding century marked the skipper’s 10th century across all formats while captaining the national side. He broke the previous record of nine centuries made by Inzamam.
Babar registered the achievement in his 84th inning while Inzamam scored nine centuries in 131 innings, he played as Pakistan captain.
Furthermore, Babar became the only Pakistani batter to score two centuries in T20Is. Overall, he has scored 26 international centuries across formats.
READ: Records tumble as Pakistan thrash England in second T20I
KARACHI: Various records tumbled as the opening duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan powered the Green Shirts to a thumping 10-wicket victory over England in the second T20I.
After struggling with the bat in the Asia Cup 2022, captain Babar came back with a stunning ton on Thursday at Karachi’s National Stadium, becoming the only Pakistani player to score two centuries in T20 internationals.
The resounding win strengthened Babar’s record not just as a batter but also as the team’s leader. With his 30th T20I victory Babar became the most successful captain of Pakistan in T20Is, surpassing Sarfaraz Ahmed, who led the Green Shirt in 29 T20I wins.
The unbeaten 203-run partnership between the skipper and Rizwan became the highest partnership for Pakistan.
The pair bettered their own previous record of a 197-run stand against South Africa in 2021. On both occasions, the Green Shirts were chasing the targets. Thus, making it the only pair who put on 175 or more in a single T20I stand while chasing. Babar and Rizwan have done it twice.
This is the 5th 150+ partnership between Babar and Rizwan, most by any pair in T20 internationals. No other pair did it more than twice.
Moreover, the magical duo registered their 7th centurion stand. The top five partnerships for Pakistan in T20Is belong to Babar and Rizwan.
During his blistering knock of 110, Babar also became the second fastest batter to score 8000 T20 runs in 218 innings.
READ: ‘We don’t let such things affect our team’ Babar replies to critics
KARACHI: After sealing a clinical 10-wicket win over England in the second T20I, Pakistan captain Babar Azam refrained from engaging in a bout of words with the team’s detractors and analysts who hurled severe criticism over its batting strategy.
“I am no one to give them (critics) a reply,” said Babar in a post-match press conference. “Things which are beyond our control we simply don’t listen to them and don’t even let those to enter into the team.”
Babar smashed a magnificent 110 off 66 balls laced with 11 fours and five sixes, guiding the national team to a perfect win on Thursday here at National Stadium, Karachi.
Wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan combined excellently with Babar as he scored 88 off 51 and the opening pair chased down a massive 200-run target without the loss of a wicket.
“Obviously we play and gear things up according to the situation. Everyone has their own point of view. Our job is to give performances and win matches for Pakistan” he added.
Talking about the brilliant chemistry between the two openers as they recorded the highest-ever run chase in the T20I history without losing a single wicket, Babar stated they had already chased down massive targets in the past as well.
“I think our communication is quite good. Sometimes we don’t even call and take a run because we have built a kind of trust level, which is indeed necessary,” he maintained.
Furthermore, the skipper explained that the decision to replace Mohammad Hasnain with Naseem Shah in the playing lineup—which proved counter-productive because the speedster went for 51 runs in his four overs—was taken to assess the team’s bench strength.
With the phenomenal win, Pakistan have levelled the historic seven-match T20I series 1-1 against England.
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