Malan sends England to Oz on the up

Series win fuels dream of glory Down Under

ENGLAND jet off to Australia today after emphatically proving themselves tournament-ready in the winner- takes- all finale to their epic Pakistan tour.

Talk within the tourists’ camp in the build-up to the seventh and final match had been of the need to test themselves in knockout-style scenarios.

And they met that test with nous and nerve to complete a 4-3 series win, as Dawid Malan’s unbeaten 78 plus an innings of 46 not out from Harry Brook helped set a 210-run target and challenged Pakistan to complete what would have been their record chase.

Any concerns England would be travelling to the World Cup without another tick in the win column were then dispelled inside the first couple of overs as Pakistan’s batting bankers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan fell to the new ball.

‘That was very pleasing,’ said England captain Moeen Ali, following the 67-run win. ‘We’ll look back and think if we were really on it, we would have won this series 6-1, but we’re really happy that we’ve won it and go to Australia in a good position.

‘If you look at the last two games, both must-win, going into a World Cup that’s really important — the pressure to perform was huge. I don’t think we’re the favourites for the World Cup. If I’m honest, I don’t feel that at all. But I know we’re a very dangerous team to play and a lot of teams will fear playing us.’

Malan had endured an underwhelming tour, but made the most of a couple of lives and put his part in the run out of Phil Salt behind him to render the loss of the toss insignificant.

The left-hander had come to the crease in the fifth over when England’s rollicking start was checked by Mohammad Hasnain pinning Alex Hales leg before.

Within two balls, England were 39 for two after a moment of high farce accounted for Salt, Pakistan’s slayer in another one-sided result 48 hours earlier.

This time Salt had taken 20 off a dozen deliveries when he bolted down the pitch in response to the ball squeezing off Malan’s pads into open space behind square.

It left both players at the same end and Salt with a forlorn task of beating Shadab Khan’s throw. No more than a lob, what it lacked in power it made up for in accuracy.

As is their wont, however, England attacked from their low ebb, Malan and Ben Duckett countering with a stand of 62 in five overs, the latter once again showing his disdain for Pakistan’s spin before departing to a moment of brilliance by Rizwan.

If Salt’s run out had been comical, this one was clinical as Rizwan clawed an inside edge that bounced down the leg-side and broke the wicket with a swish of his arm, Duckett’s momentum down the pitch doing for him.

Malan was put down on 29 at cover by Babar off Iftikhar Ahmed’s round-arm spin soon afterwards and again on 62 when Mohammad Wasim floored a steepler at midwicket at the death.

And he made the Pakistanis pay in tandem with his yorkshire colleague eague Brook, with whom hom he shared an unbroken century nw stand.

Both were struck blows to their person by the recalled Hasnain during a brief Pakistan mid- innings riposte that saw only eight taken en from two overs.

But Pakistan’s lack the lacklustre display in the field proved their downfall. f ll Babar b dropped his second catch of the night, saving Brook, who drove and clipped four sixes while Malan went through the gears to cruise beyond a 34-ball 50.

England had resisted the temptation to re-deploy Mark Wood, saving his express pace for Australian pitches, and for once they didn’t miss his potency in the power play. From the fifth ball of the innings, Babar hit Chris Woakes straight to short extra cover and Pakistan were five for two when Rizwan had his off stump pinned back by Reece Topley. There was no coming back from that, although as has been the case throughout the series, it did not stop a home crowd seeking a miracle, chanting for six specialist Asif Ali. Those chants increased in volume in line with a spiralling run rate that was in the high teens when w he came to the th crease at 86 for four and stood at over 20 when h e hooked Woakes W — who finished with three for 26 in just his second game back from a sixmonth injury la y-off — straight str to deep square squa leg. There Ther was still more than tha a quarter of f the th innings i i remaining but another full house had witnessed enough — as hundreds streamed for the exits — and England turned their thoughts to another challenge Down under.