Livingstone’s 42-ball century in vain as Pakistan beat England in 1st T20I
Liam Livingstone smashed the fastest T20I century scored by an England cricketer in just 42 balls against Pakistan, but his strike was in vain as the visitors won 31 in the first twenty20 on Friday at Trent Bridge.
What makes this win commendable for Pakistan that they have defeated England’s first team after being humiliated by the hosts second-string side in the ODIs.
Morgan won the toss and chose to bowl first but the move backfired as Pakistan capitalised on the short boundaries, smashing 20 fours and 12 sixes to post 232-6 — their highest total in T20 internationals.
A lightning-fast opening stand of 150 in 15 overs between skipper Babar Azam and his deputy Mohammad Rizwan set the tone for Pakistan. Azam hit 85 from 49 balls and Rizwan 63 from 41 in a brilliant stand.
Fakhar Zaman (26 off 8) and Mohammad Hafeez (24 off 10) provided the perfect flourish to Pakistan’s innings with their 46-run partnership off just 16 deliveries to guide Pakistan to a record total.
In reply, England have a terrible start as they lost four wickets in the first seven overs.
Seamer Shaheen Afridi (3/30) struck early to dismiss Dawid Malan, diving forward on his follow-through to have the opener caught and bowled, before he had Bairstow caught off a top edge to leave England two down in the fourth over.
Pakistan’s poor fielding was a major talking point in the final ODI but they turned up on the night, taking difficult catches in the deep and even inflicting a run out with a direct hit.
Moeen Ali fell when Haris Rauf took a bizarre catch in the deep, holding on to the ball even as he jumped into Sohaib Maqsood’s arms as his team mate tried to avoid a collision, while Jason Roy (32) failed to make good on a bright start.
Livingstone hit a barrage of sixes to initially bring up England’s fastest T20 fifty in just 17 balls. Livingstone’s 42-ball century, turned the tide for England. His century arrived with his ninth six — more than the rest of the team combined — but he was out next ball to a boundary catch by Shaheen Shah Afridi at 183-7 in the 17th over, and so went England.
England were bowled out for 201.
Brief Scores
Pakistan: 232 for 6 in 20 overs (Babar Azam 85, Mohammad Rizwan 63, Fakhar Zaman 26, Mohammed Hafeez 24; Tom Curran 2/47)England: 201 all out in 20 overs (Liam Livingstone 103, Jason Roy 32; Afridi 3/30, Shadab Khan 3/52)
