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England beat Pakistan in Dubai T20

A 112-run fourth wicket partnership between Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pietersen helped England beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the first match of the WorldCall Twenty20 international at the Dubai Sports City stadium on Friday.

Chasing 130 for victory, England achieved the target in 18.3 overs.

Morgan made an entertaining 67 from 51 balls while Pietersen was not out on 43 from 43 balls. Morgan finished the match in style, hitting Umar Gul over fine leg for a six.

Pakistan’s lone chance to win the match after posting a below par score was to take some quick early wickets. At 18/3, it indeed looked like Pakistan would pose a good challenge.

But Pietersen and Morgan played their part sensibly and ensured a comfortable victory for England. The second and final match of the series will be held at the same venue on Saturday.

The 14^th over from Abdul Razzaq proved costly as Morgan scored 14 runs out of it. Yasir Arafat gave the first breakthrough when opener Joe Denly (1) tried to hit straight down the ground and got an inside edge, grabbed by Imran Farhat at short-midwicket.

Razzag struck in the very next over, sending back the other opener Jonathan Trott. Captain Paul Collingwood was run out for a duck, giving Pakistan hopes of an upset win. Earlier, a disciplined bowling and fielding performance helped England restrict Pakistan to 129 for eight in their 20 overs.

Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann took two wickets apiece, while Luke Wright bagged one.

On Thursday, Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik had said that he expected some extra bounce from the wicket here. He was right in his assessment, as the English players bowled to a plan, restricting the attacking options of Pakistan batsmen. They found the going tough from the start itself and couldn’t accelerate the score as Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Board finished with figures of 2-23 and Bresnan 2-30 from their quota of four overs each, while Swann was impressive with 2-18 from his three overs.

Pakistan, having decided to bat first after winning the toss, had only one significant partnership in the entire innings — the 47-run fifth wicket partnership between skipper Shoaib Malik and Fawad Alam. They bailed out Pakistan from a precarious 4-39 in 8.3 overs.

Malik showed glimpses of good form, before losing his wicket to Swann, when the Pakistan innings seemed to have gained some momentum. His 26-ball 33, including three fours, came at the right time for the team. The duo added the runs in 5.5 overs at a run-rate of 8.05.

Abdul Razzaq, who was impressive in his 15-ball 22, also fell at a wrong time, as a slow ball from Tim Bresnan took his wicket in the 19^th over.

Pakistan’s chances of a big total, in the absence of all-rounder Shahid Afridi, depended a lot on the performances of big hitters Imran Nazir and Umar Akmal. But both of them failed to raise up to the expectations of the weekend crowd. Pakistan couldn’t start aggressively from the start itself. The resctrive line from the bowlers in the initial overs brought the downfall of Nazir. A shortish ball fetched Broad the wicket of Nazir (2) in the fourth over as Denly took a comfortable catch at deep square-leg.

Akmal (13) fell in the ninth over when Broad took a brilliant catch at short-third man in Graeme Swann’s first over. Pakistan score reached 48 for the loss of four wickets at the end of 10 overs.

The Alam-Razzaq sixth wicket partnership added 19 runs as a thin top edge from the left-hander, off the bowling of Broad, was pouched by Matt Prior.

Alam made a run-a-ball 23, including a six. Wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed also fell cheaply, making only five runs from as many balls.

Opener Imran Farhat, was run out as a direct hit from Kevin Pietersen ended his brief innings for 14. Wright struck in his very first over, sending back Khalid Latif for 4 as Prior took a comforable catch behind the wicket.

pradeep@khaleejtimes.com