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 o🐽f the fi✤rst 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 😱
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket)
Later, Liam Livingstone slammed tౠhe fastest T20I ton bꦕy 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.
