ELIZABETH BOTCHERBY looks back at the talking points from England’s 45-run win over Pakistan at Emerald Headingley
Since the start of the T20 Blast, Dawid Malan has posted scores of 23, 10, 6, 2, 7, 4, 76, and 1 in eight T20 and T20I outings. And his batting woes continued at Emerald Headingley, mistiming an attempted sweep and edging the ball to Azam Khan at short third man to depart for a five-ball 1.
Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler, however, brought fireworks. Allowing themselves an over and a half to settle, the duo smashed the final 12 balls of the powerplay for 38 runs. A four from Moeen to the backward point boundary off the bowling of Mohammad Hasnain got the ball rolling before Buttler smashed six, four, four to finish the fifth over with a flourish. Keen to get in on the action, Moeen kept Haris Rauf largely to himself. A four hammered over point, a half-volley past mid-on, a few singles to settle the heartrate, and two more fours to finish – the first bludgeoned through midwicket, the second stroked through point. England 66 for 2.
A single brought up the 50-partnership two balls later before their 67-run partnership came to an end in the eighth over, Moeen chipping a shot straight to Babar Azam at mid-off to depart for a 16-ball 36.
Buttler continued to shine, bringing up a measured, if slightly out of character, half-century off 33 balls in the 12th over. Livingstone, too, played a nice supporting role on Buttler’s day, sharing a 52-run stand with his Lancashire teammate and scoring 38 runs (23 balls) of his own to help England to 164 for 6 after 15.3 overs.
The innings descended into chaos following his departure – just 18 runs and 16 balls separated the wickets of Tom Curran and Matt Parkinson as Hasnain and Rauf made up for their expensive bowling with three wickets before Afridi wrapped things up in the final over. However, with Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Eoin Morgan, Chris Woakes, and even Lewis Gregory all waiting in the wings, England’s lengthy tail isn’t the issue here.
Instead, it’s Malan, whose position at number three is beginning to look untenable. He might be the number one-ranked T20 batter in the ICC standings but with just 237 runs in 10 T20Is in 2021 and a strike rate of 117.91, how long can he realistically hold onto his place in England’s first-choice XI?
Liam Livingstone has just cleared Headingley.#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/OIsXYzicES
— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) July 18, 2021
Scoring a 41-ball century at Trent Bridge in the first T20I, Liam Livingstone did more than enough to book his place in England’s T20 World Cup squad this autumn. However, if anyone needed further evidence of his boundary-crunching credentials, look no further than his knock at Headingley.
Having endured a quiet few overs, the Cumbrian went big off the first ball of the 13th over, smashing Imad Wasim for six over the top of the North-East Stand and out of the ground. Three overs later, he gave Rauf the same treatment, clearing the three-tier Emerald Stand with possibly the biggest straight hit ever seen in Leeds.
Livingstone departed for 38 two balls later, marginally runout by Rauf at the non-striker’s end who was fortunate to only dislodge one of the bails with his thigh, but not before dispatching a full toss for four.
And as for his monster six? Last spotted by air traffic controllers somewhere over the Leeds-Bradford runway.
Having finished the first innings on a high, Pakistan started their chase strongly.
Safely navigating a tidy opening over from Adil Rashid, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan took their chances against England’s seam trio, rotating the strike nicely and scoring seven boundaries off Messrs Jordan, Curran and Mahmood, before sending Moeen for 14 to end the seventh over on 65 for 1. Losing Azam at the end of the powerplay to Mahmood? An irritation but nothing too problematic with the run rate at tens.
However, the introduction of Matt Parkinson and return of Rashid changed the complexion of Pakistan’s chase, the gamble to select two frontline leg spinners paying off.
Parkinson kicked things off with a tidy six-ball over to stop the rot before Rashid struck with the first ball of his second over, a wild lunge from Sohaib Maqsood leaving him at the mercy of Buttler, England's 'keeper and captain for the day.
He departed for 15 off 10 balls, walking over the boundary rope before the third umpire had confirmed his decision. Rashid struck gold again with his next over, taking a spectacular one-handed diving catch off his own bowling to remove Rizwan before Parkinson completed yet another miserly over, conceding just seven runs.
What a grab, Adil 👏#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/aSk1jmZ0ts
— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) July 18, 2021
Moeen returned to the attack in the 13th over and made amends for his expensive first over, removing Mohammad Hafeez thanks to a fine boundary catch from Jonny Bairstow before bowling Fakhar Zaman three balls later.
And off the final ball of his four-over spell, Parkinson got a wicket to reward his match-changing contribution, seeing Azam Khan stumped by Buttler after the ball took a unfortunate deflection of the young Pakistani’s gloves.
Parkinson finished with figures of 1 for 25, Pakistan were left rocking on 105 for 6, and the seven overs of spin bookended by the Lancastrian yielded five wickets for just 40 runs.
Another Lancashire player who should start backing his bags for the UAE in October? Definitely maybe.
A home T20I for England but the atmosphere at Emerald Headingley suggested otherwise. Packing out the Western Terrace and Kirkstall Lane End, Pakistan’s sea of green started their party early, jeering the names of England’s players as the XI was announced, before erupting into life following the early wicket of Jason Roy.
Somehow, they added even more decibels for the wicket of Livingstone, creating a cacophony of horns and cheers before the third umpire had reached his decision. Even their Mexican wave was noteworthy, completing four consecutive circuits of the ground before a four to the backward square boundary from Buttler – England’s first for 13 balls – brought it to a halt.
And despite watching their side lose, they never lost their energy, maintaining a chorus of 'Pakistan' right to the last.
Posted by abdul sattar hashmi on 14/09/2021 at 12:20
League or National Cricket Abdul Sattar Hashmi New Zealand's squad for the tour of Pakistan does not include eight of their players. Among the players who did not visit Pakistan were Ken Williamson, Tim Seifert, Loki Ferguson, James Nasheem, Turnet Bolt, Adam Milne, Kyle Jameson and Mitchell Senator. Included. All these players have been released by the New Zealand Cricket Board to play in the IPL. What can be commented on this? This is the problem of New Zealand, no matter which team one wants to make a national team, but here it looks like the time of Kerry Packer is coming back. Players now prefer to play league tax cuts instead of national tax cuts. And this is definitely due to money. It is a matter of concern for New Zealand to send their baby team to the subcontinent before the 2021 KT20 World Cup. The ICC has to look at this approach, otherwise in the future players will continue to play league cricket instead of the national.