England defeat Pakistan in sixth T20I

Lahore, The Gulf Observer: Opener Phil Salt came up with a match-winning half-century as England defeated Pakistan by eight wickets in the sixth Twenty20 international against England in Lahore on Friday.

Salt scored an unbeaten 88 from 41 deliveries studded with 13 boundaries and three sixes. The win saw England level the series 3-3 and push it to the decider on Sunday.

Earlier, Babar Azam equalled India star Virat Kohli’s record of the fastest man to 3,000 runs in cricket’s shortest format as Pakistan scored 169-6.

The Pakistan skipper, who hit an unbeaten 59-ball 87 for his 27th half century, reached 3,000 T20I runs in 81 innings as he anchored the home team’s total after they were sent in to bat.

Azam hit Richard Gleeson for a six to join Indian duo of Rohit Sharma (3,694 runs in 140 matches) and Kohli (3,663 in 108), New Zealand’s Martin Guptill (3,497 in 112) and Ireland’s Paul Stirling (3,011 in 114) in the milestone.

Azam hit three sixes and seven boundaries and added 48 for the fourth wicket with Iftikhar Ahmed (31) and 47 for the third with Haider Ali (18).

Sam Curran (2-26) and David Willey (2-32) were the successful England bowlers.

Pakistan handed a T20I debut to 21-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Haris as they rested Mohammad Rizwan.

Fast bowler Haris Rauf was also rested, making way for Shahnawaz Dahani.

England rested the pace duo of Mark Wood and Chris Woakes to bring in Reece Topley and Gleeson.

Brief scores:

England beat Pakistan by 8 wickets.

Pakistan: 169-6 (Babar Azam 87 not out, Iftikhar Ahmed 31, Sam Curran 2-26, David Willey 2-32)

England: 170-2 in 14.3 overs (Phil Salt 88 not out, Alex Hales 27, Ben Duckett 26 not out, Dawid Malan 26, Shadab Khan 2-34)