Pakistan’s disastrous tour of England hit a new low on Tuesday after making its worst Twenty20 total to lose by six wickets for its second defeat in the two-match series.
Reeling from match-fixing allegations that have resulted in three of its players being suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC), Pakistan was bowled out for 89 and then England reached 90-4 in 14 overs to win a record-equaling seventh straight T20 match.
Pakistan’s previous lowest T20 total was 125-9 at Australia in February.
Tim Bresnan took 3-10, while England teammates Ryan Sidebottom, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann took two wickets each.
England captain Paul Collingwood made 21 and Eoin Morgan 18 not out in front of 5,821 people, just over a third of Sophia Gardens’ capacity.
“It was irresponsible and immature the way we played,” Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said. “England are the world champions and we needed to be more responsible with better shot selection and show more pride. Our morale is very low, but I am sure one win will change that.”
England leveled the record jointly held by South Africa and Pakistan for consecutive wins in the game’s shortest format.
“It is a special achievement,” Collingwood said. “In this form of the game, it can be tough to win consistently, so to have that kind of win is a great effort from the boys, especially carrying the added pressure of being world champions.”
Pakistan’s tour is going from bad to worse. It has now lost five of its six internationals against England, having lost the test series 3-1 and 2-0 in the Twenty20 matches. Pakistan also suffered its heaviest test defeat less than two weeks ago at Lord’s.
Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and 18-year-old prodigy Mohammad Amir were suspended by the ICC last week for corruption-related charges that followed allegations of bowling no-balls for money.
There were more allegations in Tuesday’s British newspapers, and the negativity looks to be seriously affecting the team’s performances.
“It’s not easy, it’s very, very hard. I just want one victory,” Afridi said. “I made some plans as a captain — I knew Salman Butt was my opener and key player, and Asif and Amir — but everything has changed as a captain for me. But hopefully I will bring my team up.”
England produced an efficient display after losing the toss.
Pakistan slumped to 22-4 after Afridi, its most explosive batsman, was caught for 2 edging to point when trying to slog-pull a delivery from Stuart Broad.
The innings from Mohammed Hafeez emphasized his team’s struggle, hitting 14 from 32 balls. Even the normally aggressive Abdul Razzaq labored for 11 from 20 deliveries.
“I’m not letting my team down like this, not in the one-dayers,” Afridi said. “It will be a big challenge to compete, but we have some time. Me, my coach and the team we will sit together and talk.”
The teams meet tomorrow at Durham to start a five-match 50-over series.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
RSS