Pakistan hold nerve to edge out England in fifth T20

Moeen Ali’s late rally was in vain as Pakistan produced a spirited bowling display to beat England by six runs in the fifth Twenty20 at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday and take a 3-2 lead in the seven-match series.

Chasing a modest 146, England needed 15 off the final over but debutant Aamer Jamal (1-13) held his nerve against the experienced Moeen (51 not out) to close out the game for Pakistan.

England never got going in their chase, losing both openers early before Dawid Malan chipped in with a dogged 36 and Moeen kept them in the hunt with a few late blows but the England captain left himself too much to do in the last over.

Haris Rauf (2-41) shone with the ball and five other Pakistan bowlers picked up a wicket each.

After being asked to bat, Pakistan’s middle-order woes returned to haunt them as they crumbled to 88-6 after excellent spells from Mark Wood and David Willey.

Wood — playing only his second international since undergoing elbow surgery — took 3-20 after the home team were sent in to bat.

Wood’s fellow pacers Sam Curran (2-23) and Willey (2-23) also bowled with hostility as Pakistan were dismissed in 19 overs.

Amid a middle-order collapse from 42-1 which saw Pakistan lose six wickets off 48 balls for just 58 runs — opener Mohammad Rizwan held on with a defiant 46-ball 63.

Wood dismissed Pakistan skipper Babar Azam in the third over for nine before David Willey removed Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed to derail Pakistan.

Mohammad Nawaz, for a duck, and Shadab Khan fell to injudicious runouts to leave Pakistan tottering at 100-7.

Rizwan completed his 20th T20I half- century before hitting Curran straight into the hands of Adil Rashid at deep square-leg in the 18th over. Rizwan struck three sixes and two fours.

The first leg of four matches in Karachi saw England winning the first and third while Pakistan won the second and fourth.

England made four changes from the side that lost the fourth game, bringing in Chris Woakes for his first game of the series in addition to Dawid Malan, Curran and Wood.

The quartet replaced Will Jacks, Olly Stone, Reece Topley and Liam Dawson.

Pakistan handed a T20I debut to 26-year-old all-rounder Aamer Jamal while also adding Shadab Khan and Haider Ali to the squad. They replaced Khushdil Shah, Usman Qadir and Mohammad Hasnain.

The remaining matches are also in Lahore (September 30 and October 2).

Teams

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Asif Ali, Aamer Jamal, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Haider Ali, Shan Masood, Mohammad Wasim Junior

England: Moeen Ali (captain), Dawid Malan, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Chris Woakes, Alex Hales, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Mark Wood, David Willey

Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK) and Ahsan Raza (PAK)

TV umpire: Asif Yaqoob (PAK)

Match referee: Javed Malik (PAK)

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