CRIMINAL!

Brainless batting as England blow yet another run chase in Pakistan

ENGLAND were slammed for their ‘criminal’ batting as they slipped to a sixrun Twenty20 defeat by Pakistan last night. Moeen Ali’s side lost three cheap wickets in the powerplay chasing a modest 146 to win in Lahore, and fell short despite their captain’s 51 not out to go 3-2 down in the seven-match series.

The tourists were also three down after just two overs in Sunday’s three-run defeat in Karachi, and former England batsman Mark Butcher tore into their tactics on commentary, labelling them ‘criminal’ before adding: ‘Their approach seemed daft to me. Twice on the trot the batting has stuttered in run chases. It’s not alarm bells but it might be worth having a chat.’

They now trail with two matches to play, having once again been kept at bay by a Pakistan team powered by a combination of Mohammad Rizwan’s runs and their suffocating spin line-up.

Much of the damage, however, was self-inflicted as England lost their openers early but also another significant casualty in the powerplay.

Alex Hales and Phil Salt were both sucked into aggressive strokes within the first half-dozen balls they faced. With time on their side, they abandoned it to fatal consequences.

Ben Duckett’s stock has risen exponentially on this trip. Since being recalled last week, the lefthander had surged an incredible 1,070 places to 32 in the world batting rankings.

Here, he raced into double figures off his first five balls to close the gap on Harry Brook as England’s leading scorer in the series.

But, like those before him, he misjudged an aerial stroke to guide the ball into waiting Pakistan hands and leave England toiling.

‘Of all the games so far, this was the most disappointing. You have to see the situation of the game, and the conditions. A 60-70 run partnership would have won the game,’ Moeen said.

England had been given a masterclass in how to conduct a T20 innings by Rizwan, whose 63 from 43 balls was one of only three double-figure scores by Pakistan.

‘The way he plays, he’s someone we can learn a lot off,’ said Moeen. ‘He saw the situation and adapted to the wicket today. He’s been freeflowing a lot of the time and it still felt like he was doing the same. He took risks when he needed to but played properly when he needed to as well.’

Crucially, Rizwan was put down at mid-on by a diving Hales — his third dropped catch of the series — on nine. Statistically, it was the costliest error of all.

Spin would later play a huge part in the direction of the match but Pakistan clearly targeted Adil Rashid — so often England’s banker with the ball, who, in contrast to his rival leg-spinner Shadab Khan, gave the ball air.

Both Rizwan and Shadab, from the first ball he faced on his return from injury, took advantage to loft the Yorkshireman straight for six. There was punishment from others, too, for over-pitching in an uncharacteristically expensive display. Only once in his previous 80 T20s had he conceded more than the 41 runs he leaked here.

Rizwan was also the one batter who coped with the fire and brimstone of Mark Wood, whose figures so far in a timely pre-World Cup return from injury now read 8-0-44-6. With Chris Woakes operating from the other end, following another six months on the sidelines with a knee injury, Wood’s X-factor hushed a full house after Moeen won the toss.

England went wicketless through the powerplays of the three matches Wood has missed here but, just as in the third match in Karachi — when they bagged four up front — his presence within the attack promoted unease amongst the Pakistani batting.

Once again, he profited by slamming the ball into the surface from the off, a tactic that resulted in Babar Azam hauling to the midwicket boundary in his first over, and Haider Ali miscuing in his second. When he castled Asif Ali with a yorker, it was the first time he had enjoyed success with a full delivery.

In contrast, England lost their way against spin — Dawid Malan and Brook both pinned leg before by balls that skipped off the surface. The requirement had climbed to 48 from 22 when Moeen unleashed the first of four sixes that kept the tourists in the hunt.

England entered the 20th with 15 runs required and although Moeen swung Aamer Jamal over long-on to bring up his second half century of the series, to pare it down to eight off three, he could not get under the next two, leaving David Willey with the forlorn task of hitting a six from the last.

‘I felt like two big hits and we were in,’ he said. ‘Unfortunately, I only managed one. It was a very good last over and you can’t take that away from him.’

Unfortunately, the damage had been done at the other end of the innings.