England in Pakistan: Dawid Malan guides tourists to Twenty20 series win
Dawid Malan thumped an unbeaten 78 to help England to a comprehensive 67-run win over Pakistan in the seventh Twenty20 international to take the series 4-3.
Having been asked to bat first in Lahore, England piled on the runs with Malan making Pakistan pay for dropping him on 29 and 62 as he lifted the visitors to 209-3.
Harry Brook’s fine form continued as he made 46 not out from 29 balls – having been dropped on 24 – in an unbroken stand of 108 with Malan.
Babar Azam was responsible for two of those dropped catches and could not atone with the bat, falling to Chris Woakes in the first over of the chase.
Reece Topley bowled Mohammad Rizwan two balls later and, with their two in-form openers gone early, Pakistan were unable to recover and limped to 142-8. Woakes took 3-26 and David Willey chipped in with 2-22, also claiming his 50th T20 international wicket.
England now head to Australia for a three-match T20 series before starting their T20 World Cup campaign against Afghanistan on 22 October. Meanwhile, Pakistan will travel to New Zealand for a T20 tri-series that also includes Bangladesh.
Pakistan lend helping hand as Malan finds form
After their staggeringly quick start in the last game, England’s openers got off to a flyer again but two wickets in three balls brought the onslaught to an abrupt end.
Alex Hales was pinned lbw by Mohammad Hasnain and, two balls later, a mix-up between Malan and Phil Salt saw the latter run out at the non-striker’s end after being turned down for a single.
Salt’s reaction suggested he was in little doubt over where the blame lay but Malan was able to spend the rest of the innings making amends.
The left-hander swatted Shadab Khan over deep mid-wicket for six with Ben Duckett adding another maximum down the ground later in the ninth over to take England’s run-rate back over 10 an over, where it stayed for the vast majority of the innings.
Malan has been short of runs in the series, with a highest score of 36, but with the help of Pakistan fielders, he was able to improve on that.
Firstly, soon after some excellent glovework from Rizwan saw Duckett run out, he drilled Iftikhar to extra cover but Babar shelled the catch.
The Pakistan skipper then dropped a dolly to give Brook a reprieve and deny the impressive Haris Rauf a wicket, and the fast bowler was let down by his fielders again as Mohammad Wasim spilled a skier to give Malan another life on 62.
The former world number one T20 batter further punished Wasim, who went for 61 from his four overs, with his third six of the innings to start the final over as, in a timely return to form, he produced a typical Malan knock: a steady start before a sharp acceleration later in the innings, scoring freely square of the wicket.
