Demoralised Pakistan fall easy prey to England

CARDIFF England won the first Twenty20 cricket match by five wickets, as Pakistani bowlers failed to defend the lowest total of 126 runs on Sunday played at Sophia Gardens Cricket Stadium. Morgan (38) and Yardy (35) helped their team claim a comprehensive victory. Morgan played an excellent innings at the crucial stage when hosts had lost their five batsmen at 67 in 10 overs. Shoaib 2 for 23, Afridi 2 for 27 and Gul 1 for 17 were the main wicket takers. However, Morgan along with Yardy put 62 runs for the sixth wicket. Morgan faced 24 balls and hit six fours while his partner Yardy faced 26 balls and hit four boundaries. Earlier, English captain Collingwood won the toss and decided to field first on the wet pitch, as the rain had halted just half hour before commencing the T20. Umer Akmal (35), Mohammad Yousaf (26), Shahzab Hasan (21) and Fawad Alam (20) small contributions helped Pakistan to set 127 runs target on the board for the hosts in the first T20. Earlier, English Captain Collingwood won the toss and put Pakistan into bat on the wet surface first, as the rain stopped just half hour before starting the match. Pakistan lost their first wicket in the second over of the innings when Kamran Akmal threw the catch to Yardy on the bowling of Bresnan. He scored only six runs on four balls. Shahzaib and Yousaf aggregated 33 runs for the second wicket. Experienced Mohammad Yousaf could score 26 runs after wasting 18 balls in the shortest version of the cricket fixture. Shahzab also made 26 on 18 balls by hitting three boundaries. Umer once again took charge in a style and knocked an unbeaten 35 runs innings. He faced 30 balls and hit two fours during his 44 minutes innings. Skipper Shahid Afrid scored 16 not out after facing 14 balls. Sawan got two wickets by conceding just 14 runs in his four overs for England while Bresnan and Yardy shared each one wicket by conceding 18 and 21 runs respectively. It is also important to mention here that team management decided to drop Yasir Hameed from playing elevens after seeing his statement in the English newspaper. Yousaf was given chance in opening match. However, Yasir also brought to question at the Pakistan High Commission, London.