Pakistan end series on high note, beat England in thriller

AFP: Pakistan ended its fairly dismal series against England on Tuesday on a high note, beating the hosts by five runs in a match that went down the wire.

It was Pakistan´s first victory in 66 days of being in a bio-secure bubble in England amid the coronavirus and meant they squared this three-match series at 1-1 after a 1-0 loss in last month´s three-Test series.
Hafeez made 86 not out and Haider 54 in Pakistan´s 190-4.

There was a 20-year age gap between the 39-year-old Hafeez and the 19-year-old Haider but you would not have known it while they shared a stand of exactly 100 after coming together at 32-2.

Hafeez´s knock followed his 69 in England´s five-wicket win at Old Trafford on Sunday and was his fourth fifty in his last five T20 international innings.

Haider came in at 2-1 after opener Fakhar Zaman was out for one but demonstrated a maturity well beyond his years during a 28-ball fifty featuring five fours and two sixes.

“He was good under pressure and just expressed himself,” said player of the series Hafeez of Haider in a post-match interview with Sky Sports.

“I was just trying to back him every time, tell him ´you are playing well, continue like that,´” he added. “It is great to see youngsters coming from our system and performing well.”