PAK vs ENG: Babar, Rizwan wreak havoc to guide Pakistan to victory over England in 2nd T20I

KARACHI: Pakistan's opening duo Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan shined to guide the hosts to a 10-wicket victory over England in the second T20I here at the National Stadium Karachi.

Opting to bat first, England posted 199 runs on the scoreboard, which the Men in Green chased down in the last over, thanks to Babar's century and Rizwan's 91-run knock.

The hosts' skipper managed to amass 106 runs in only 65 balls, including 11 fours and five maximums.

Meanwhile, his opening partner Rizwan scored a blistering 88-run knock in just 51 balls, which included five boundaries and four maximums.

The opening pair also made history by becoming the most successful batting partners in T20Is surpassing India's Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.

The Indian pair had scored 1743 runs in a total of 52 innings as batting partners, Pakistan’s Babar and Rizwan surpassed them in the 36th inning as batting partners when they took Pakistan’s score to 18 runs in the 3rd over in the 2nd T20I against England.

Babar also managed to complete 8000 T20 runs, becoming the second fastest batter after Chris Gayle to get to the landmark as the 27-year-old achieved the feat in 218 innings.

Earlier, captain's knock from magnificent Moeen Ali drove England to 199-5 against Pakistan in second T20I here on Thursday. 

Coming back from Shahnawaz Dahani's fierce bowling spell, England recovered well to post a mammoth total on the scoreboard. 

Dahani, recovering from his last match's performance, bagged back-to-back wickets to create a hat-trick chance for him. 

The right-arm pacer bagged Alex Hales and Dawid Malan in quick succession to put England under pressure. 

Phil Salth (30) and Ben Duckett (43) rescued England with a match-saving 53 runs partnership. Nawaz got rid of Duckett whereas Harry Brook was next to fall to Haris Rauf. 

Moeen arrived with full power, striking Pakistani bowlers all around the park. He remained not out for 55 runs laced with four boundaries and as many sixes. 

Dahani and Haris bagged two wickets each while Nawaz took a wicket.  

TOSS

England have won the toss and opted to bat first against Pakistan in the second T20I of the second match of the series here at the National Stadium Karachi on Thursday.

Mohammad Hasnain has replaced Naseem Shah for Pakistan, while Liam Dawson took Richard Gleeson's place for England.

Playing XIs:

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Haider Ali, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Shahnawaz Dahani, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Usman Qadir

England: Phil Salt (wk), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali (c), Sam Curran, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood, Liam Dawson

Live score of the match appears below: