Batting first, the Pakistan openers truly put on a show, scoring heavily against England’s new-ball duo of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, as they scored a total of 56 runs just in the first six. However, post that initial momentum, the Men in Green struggled in the middle overs as their plot fell down flat on their face. A good end to the innings thanks to their ‘El Professor’ Mohammad Hafeez ensured that they got to 171/4 at the end of their innings, which looked pretty. 

On the other hand, England struggled in the run chase early with the quick dismissal of Jos Buttler, whose torrid time continued. Jonny Bairstow too fell within the powerplay as Jason Roy continued his marvellous hitting from the other end. Two quick wickets in the middle-overs put England’s run-chase to a halt before Ben Stokes etched a partnership with Roy to take the side closer to a victory. However, in the end, it required cameos from Chris Jordan and Moeen Ali to take England home. 

Well, to be really honest, we initially thought it was Jordan’s brilliance which took the game away from Pakistan, only to then notice Moeen Ali. Ali indeed turned the screw around and scored at a steady pace, scoring 22 runs off eight deliveries, with two boundaries and two huge ones beyond the boundary. Ali’s brilliance with the bat truly turned the game around its head. 

Talking about lows, there’s really only one name that comes across from the game - Mark Wood. Despite such brilliance in the tournament thus far, Wood struggled for momentum in this one, conceding boundaries early on to allow Pakistan up their ante. In just two overs, he conceded 19 and looked likely to concede more. In his second spell, he conceded 14 runs off the only over, allowing Pakistan to build their momentum. 

If there is any word that truly shows how Pakistan played in the powerplay, it is excellent. And if there is one to describe how the openers performed, it is electric. What a display from the Pakistan openers, they just ruined the new ball, England’s new-ball bowlers, and more so the home team’s momentum in the game. At the end of six overs, they scored 56 runs, all coming off the blades of Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman. 

It all flipped right here - in the middle overs of the innings - where Pakistan lost the plot. They did not lose many wickets, however. Then what went wrong? Well after scoring 56 runs in the powerplay, the onus was on the openers to lead them strongly in the middle overs. Did they? No, they fell short and they only scored a total of 71 runs in the middle-patch to leave them scrambling for runs at the end of the innings. 

To be really honest, Pakistan massively effed everything up in the overs leading to the dead-end of the innings. And after the 15th over, they only had three and a half overs against the English batsmen to make a mark. Fair to say if they have lost the game, it should tell you a lot about their bowlers towards the end of the innings. 

Oh, the game was feisty and fiery. It kept the entire SRL audience tied up to their seats, thanks to the dominating opening partnership from Pakistan. And the game had everything - wickets, runs and in the end, two cameos which took England home. By the end of the game, the audience were up and running from their seats - some in jubilance and the other in pure, pure emotion.