Pak Eng T20: Razzaq Steals Show in 2nd After Morgan, KP Shine

Sreelata YellamrazuFeb 20 2010

Two back to back Twenty20 matches and two diametrically opposite results. Although Kevin Pietersen gave England a huge impetus in the second, the Pakistan England Twenty20 internationals saw honours shared.

abdul razzaq 2

In the first match, it appeared Pakistan could not get their act right as the England bowlers neatly dissected the batting line up. The only person who managed to get something going was the Pakistan captain, Shoaib Mallik, himself with a modest thirty-three in a score of 129 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

But what seemed like an easy target was made difficult when England lost three wickets for eighteen, including the wicket of the England captain, Paul Collingwood.

Eoin Morgan is fast developing a reputation for the big stage and along with KP, put up a partnership that gave England what it had set out so well to do...win the game. Morgan's sixty-seven runs from just fifty-one balls was inspiring indeed but with a belligerent partner in tow, Morgan was able to raise England's profile to an untouchable level. KP's contribution of forty-three runs were certainly a handy alliance as England won the first Twenty20 match with an over and a half to spare.

But the second match brought Pakistan back into the picture with a timely win, and even that looked implausible at a time. Had it not been for Abdul Razzaq's late burst for forty-fix from eighteen balls chasing England's 148, Pakistan could have been staring at another defeat.

The task was made difficult once again by KP in a ninety-eight run partnership with Jonathan Trott. KP starred with another innings, this time of a forty-ball 62 runs while Trott made thirty-nine.

Graeme Swann's three wickets nearly made it impossible, especially after he took the wicket of Umar Akmal for thirty-six runs. But not with Razzaq still in the team.

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