(Football news) Phil Salt made an astounding 88 not out, making a mockery of a 170-run chase to propel England to a series-leveling eight-wicket win in the sixth T20I against Pakistan, at the Gaddafi Stadium. Babar Azam's acceleration in the end gave the hosts a competitive total of 169/6 on a very sluggish surface but the English openers killed the chase in the PowerPlay itself with a 55-run stand in four overs. Now the series will be decided in the seventh and final T20I this Sunday.
Pakistan handed the new ball to the left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz and Salt went haywire as he hit a couple of boundaries to make it a 11-run over. He started hitting Shahnawaz Dahani too at the other end. Salt's career-best score was enough for England as they won the match with more than five overs to spare. For the better part of his brilliant 41-ball knock, the opener's strike-rate was 250-plus. He literally toyed with Pakistan's attack and struck boundaries at will. England finished the PowerPlay with a score of 82/1 courtesy Salt's unrelenting counterattack. Aamer Jamal leaked 20 in his first over with Salt reaching his half century in 19-balls. He was aided by Dawid Malan and Ben Duckett who helped England reach the target very easily.
In the first innings, Mohammad Haris opened his account with a thumping six over mid-on but then Richard Gleeson had the last laugh. David Willey trapped Shan Masood LBW for a second-ball duck as Pakistan was 40/2 at the end of PowerPlay. Having lost a couple of early wickets, Babar stitched some vital partnerships with Haider Ali (18) and Iftikhar Ahmed (31 off 21) to revive the innings. Iftikhar's cameo stood out in the middle-overs, while the captain was just happy to rotate strike. Babar quietly raised his bat for a 41-ball fifty as England got the key wicket of dangerous Iftikhar in the 15th over.
Into the slog overs, Babar decided to switch gears as he went on to become the joint-fastest man to 3000 T20I runs, alongside Virat Kohli (81 innings), with a six straight over Gleeson's head, and then hit one over extra cover when Sam Curran dished out a friendly full toss. Reece Topley snuck in a good 18th over but Babar made up for it with a four and a six. Babar finished with a score of unbeaten 87 off just 59 to propel Pakistan to 169/6, but ultimately that didn't prove enough.
Brief scores: Pakistan 169/6 in 20 overs (Babar Azam 87*, Iftikhar Ahmed 31; Sam Curran 2-26, David Willey 2-32) lost to England 170/2 in 14.3 overs (Phil Salt 88*; Shadab Khan 2-34) by 8 wickets.
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