England fall just short despite Liam Dawson’s late heroics… as Pakistan claim dramatic three-run victory to level the seven-match series at 2-2
- Mohammad Rizwan top-scored for Pakistan, hitting 88 as the hosts posted 166
- England lost three wickets as their reply got off to a poor start in Karachi
- Ben Duckett, Liam Brook and Moeen Ali kept England in the hunt for victory
- Liam Dawson looked to have put England on course for victory with a late cameo
- However, Pakistan got three late wickets to win in the final over by three runs
England’s batting proved infuriatingly inconsistent at the National Stadium as Pakistan celebrated their 200th Twenty20 international by squaring the series in a last-over thriller.
Tasked with chasing 167 for victory, after winning the toss for a contest played on the same surface upon which the Pakistanis hauled down 200 wicketlessly on Thursday, Moeen Ali’s team lost three wickets inside a dozen deliveries – and not even an extraordinary late dash for the finishing line by Liam Dawson could save them.
Dawson set himself up as the unlikely hero of a heist as England when he silenced a raucous Karachi full house and had a healthy proportion of the locals streaming for the exits.
Pakistan picked up three late wickets to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in Karachi
Liam Dawson smashed four boundaries in an over to put England in a winning position
Pakistan had already won the contest once it appeared when, with 33 runs required off the last 18 deliveries, and the Pakistan pace bowlers reverse swinging the ball viciously, Dawson took strike from Mohammad Hasnain.
But in his finest 15 minutes in an England shirt he spun the game on its head with the bat rather than the ball – his primary suit at international level – only for the tourists to then grab defeat from the jaws of victory by losing three wickets for one run to be defeated by three.
Dawson began Mohammad Hasnain’s fourth and final over by advancing to loft a six over long-off and by the end of it, the locals were streaming for the exits as four consecutive fours – the first from a no-ball – plus a single saw 23 wiped off the requirement.
The equation was down to just five off 10 when he pulled another boundary off Haris Rauf two balls later but he holed out at deep midwicket immediately.
Olly Stone was then bowled first ball, and England needed four runs from the final over with just one wicket left. They couldn’t get over the line as Reece Topley was run out trying to get Adil Rashid on strike.
Mohammad Nawaz (L) starred with the ball, taking three wickets for Pakistan
Mohammad Rizwan hit his third half-century of the series to help Pakistan post 166-4
More to follow…
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