LAHORE: England’s opening batter Phil Salt wreaked havoc over the Pakistan bowling line-up as the touring side sealed the sixth T20I with eight wickets and 33 balls to force a series decider, scheduled on Sunday.
Batting first on the invitation of England’s captain Moeen Ali, the hosts had an unwanted start to their inning as debutant Mohammad Haris fell cheaply after managing to score a mere seven.
Following the early halt, Shan Masood, too, could not settle things down as David Willey trapped him in legs for a duck and Pakistan, as a result, slipped to 15/2 in the fourth over.
Haider Ali then joined his captain Babar in the middle and attempted to anchor the inning as the pair added an important 47 runs for the third wicket.
Haider, however, miscued one while pulling a shorter delivery off Sam Curran in the ninth over and walked back to the pavilion in disgust after scoring 18.
Iftikhar Ahmed then looked to turn things around with Babar and scored a quickfire cameo as the duo took Pakistan to 110 in the 15th over.
The hard-hitting batter, however, could not continue his brilliance and fell victim to Curran. He scored 31 off just 21 deliveries with the help of two boundaries and as many sixes.
Babar, on the other hand, held his ground firm and kept the scoreboard ticking while the home side lost their explosive batter, Asif Ali, for a mere nine.
Mohammad Nawaz played a crucial knock of 12 not-out and supported Babar in the death overs. Pakistan captain led from the front and top-scored for the side with a magnificent 87 off 59 deliveries, laced with seven boundaries and three sixes.
For England, Curran and Willey bagged two wickets each, while Richard Gleeson and Reece Topley struck out a batter each.
