Talk about a terrific bowling display. Tim Bresnan showed yesterday why he deserves his spot in the England Twenty20 and ODI side after an impressive spell of 3-10 off 3.4 overs in England's second Twenty20 victory over Pakistan.Bresnan and Sussex captain Michael Yardy's spells proved to be England's most economical figures ever in T20 internationals, and despite no massive contribution from the batting line up, a reliable Eoin Morgan scored 18 not out to push England over the finish line with six overs remaining.
Pakistan, who won both their T20 matches against Australia in the summer, looked like a village team. Since the controversy in the newspapers over the spot-fixing allegations, the team has looked disjointed and lacking any kind of motivation despite the return of ODI captain Shahid Afridi and seam bowler Shoaib Akhtar to the setup.
Afridi won the toss, and surprisingly chose to bat in overcast conditions. This would be a decision he would later regret as Pakistan started in horrendous fashion losing Kamran Akmal in the second over then losing Mohammed Yousuf, opener Hasan and the captain himself in quick succession to be 22-4. Bresnan making a huge impact on the top order, and Broad supporting him with a combination of quick and short bowling forcing the Pakistanis to make huge misjudgements in their hook shots.
With young and in-form Umar Akmal at the crease Pakistan looked for some inspiration from the 20-year-old, and it looked promising after he played a Graeme Swann ball superbly back over the bowler's head for six. However, Umar's inexperienced showed the very next ball trying to attempt to smash the second best bowler in the world again, this time failing, missing a beautifully bowled off-break which rattled into the stumps. The batsman's reaction showed he was angry with himself. Swann's reaction was one which lacked emotion but one in which he was expecting the wicket to come sooner rather than later.
Despite not getting a wicket, Michael Yardy's bowling display proved to be valuable to England's attack on the Pakistan batting order, conceding only 10 runs in 4 overs. Another wicket for Swann, dismissing Fawad Alam for a golden duck, two for the expensive Sidebottom in consecutive balls, a run out and a final wicket for the on-form Bresnan wrapped up the innings, bowling Pakistan out for a tame 89.
England began brightly, and even though a maiden from Shoaib Akhtar who was consistently bowling over 90mph gave Pakistan some impetus in the early stages, a quickfire 16 from young Craig Kieswetter which included two fours and a glorious six over extra cover put England on the right track. Pakistan responded dismissing Steven Davies off the bowling of Akhtar, then he very next ball Umar hitting the stumps at the non-striker's end from point to end Kieswetter's promising start, a wicket which showed slight improvement in Pakistan's fielding.
A hesitant Ravi Bopara failed to pick up a quicker ball from Afridi and being trapped leg before, falling for 12 off 24 balls, and captain Paul Collingwood managed to get England up to 57 before edging straight to Hafeez at slip off the bowling of Ajmal to go for 21.
Enter Eoin Morgan and Yardy, whose partnership in the last T20 provided the winning runs, and this was the case again. Morgan hitting three fours in his 18 not out and Yardy providing steady support as England went on to secure a six wicket win, a result which puts the hosts in good stead for the five-match one-day series starting on Friday and leaving a demoralised Pakistan thinking what they can do to overcome the mess of the past two weeks.
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