Vince was England’s top-scorer with 38 runs

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi blasted 24 runs off just eight balls, but his side still lost to England by three runs in the second Twenty20 International in Dubai.

England captain Eoin Morgan would have been content with his decision to bat first as his side got off of to a decent start before they began to lose wickets at regular intervals.

James Vince, who had a big impact with the bat on debut in the first match, was England’s top-scorer with 38 and received some excellent support from wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler, who hammered a quickfire 33.

Jason Roy and Joe Root chipped in with 29 and 20 respectively as England finished on 172/8 off their 20 overs.

Afridi was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Anwar Ali snapped up two and Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz and Shoaib Malik collected one wicket apiece.

Chasing 173 to win, Pakistan got off to a good start, with all their top order batsmen making decent scores, before all their hard work started to go to waste as, just like England, they started losing wickets regularly.

Despite a middle order collapse, Afridi came to the rescue with his superb 24, but he was unable to see his side home.

Afridi’s valiant effort with the bat went in vain

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

However, Pakistan still had a good chance of ending the series as a 1-1 draw with Sarfraz Ahmed at the crease, but upon entering the final over, in which Pakistan needed 11 to win, the wicketkeeper-batsman was clean bowled by Chris Woakes for 19.

Pakistan managed to get seven runs off the next four balls and were left needing four runs to win off the last ball, but England managed to hold on and secure the series after Ali failed to connect with his mighty heave.

Liam Plunkett was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Woakes and Adil Rashid took two wickets each and Stephen Parry claimed one.

Plunkett was named Man of the Match.