- Match scorecard, available here
Manchester, 21 July 2021: England won the three-match T20I series against Pakistan with a tense three-wicket victory at Old Trafford, Manchester on Tuesday night which was achieved with a mere two balls left. England who had won the second match at Leeds by 45 runs on Sunday, took the series 2-1, Pakistan won the series opener at Nottingham by 31 runs.
On Tuesday night in front of a packed with spectators Old Trafford, England were set a 155-run target.
Opener Jason Roy got England off to a quickfire start with a series of boundaries in the powerplay overs.
Roy added 67 runs for the first-wicket with Jos Buttler (21), Buttler was dismissed by Shadab Khan. Roy fell for a dazzling 64 off 36 balls (12 fours, one six) in the 11th over of the innings to leg-spinner Usman Qadir who was playing his first match of the series.
Imad Wasim dismissed Jonny Bairstow (5) with the total at 104 - 13.2 overs. England wobbled when Moeen Ali was bowled by Mohammad Hafeez for one which left the hosts needing 43 off the last five overs.
Hafeez took another crucial wicket when he dismissed Dawid Malan (31) which left England requiring 12 runs off the last eight balls, two balls later, the off-spinner dismissed Liam Livingstone (6) who fell after hitting his first ball for a big six.
England needed six off the last over, captain Eoin Morgan (21 off 12 balls, one four, two sixes) was sent packing by Hasan Ali with four runs needed off four balls. Chris Jordan scored the winning runs with a mere two balls to spare.
Earlier, Pakistan were restricted to a 154 for six total after winning the toss and electing to bat first. Wicketkeeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan held the innings together for the visitors scoring an unbeaten 76 off 57 balls (five fours, three sixes).
On the other end, none of the Pakistan batters could get going against the pace and spin pronged English attack which was spearheaded by leg-spinner Adil Rashid who took four wickets for 35 runs.
Fakhar Zaman was the only one to offer some support to Rizwan with a 24-run contribution (20 balls, one four, one six) in a 45-run fourth-wicket partnership.
Hasan Ali who was making his first appearance in the series after missing the first two matches due to an injury, used the long handle effectively at the end in a 15-run contribution off nine balls.
Moeen Ali with figures of one 4-0-19-1 provided excellent support to Adil.
Scores in brief:
England beat Pakistan by three wickets
Pakistan 154-6, 20 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 76 not out, Fakhar Zaman 24; Adil Rashid 4-35)
England 155.7, 19.4 overs (Jason Roy 64, Dawid Malan 31; Mohammad Hafeez 3-28)
Player of the match: Jason Roy
Player of the series: Liam Livingstone
