Morgan scores 66 from 33 balls
England complete highest-ever T20 chase against PakistanEoin Morgan led England to a marmalizing victory over
Pakistan at Old Trafford in the second T20, with 66 off just 33 balls, sweeping, spraying, outside edging and generally making whoopee in a fearless chase – though not before he had survived a hat-trick ball on 0 by the whim of the umpire’s call. The five-wicket victory with five balls to spare was England’s highest run chase against Pakistan and was the highest run chase by any team against Pakistan. This shadow England side continues to play in their inspirational captain’s image.
Old Trafford was filled for
World Cup games last year, a skeletal and rammed party stand soaring raucous row after raucous row, as West Indies slipped just short in a thriller against
New Zealand and Morgan himself frying panned
Afghanistan into the far distance with 17 sixes. This year, some padded sponsored space fills the gap where the stand would be. Behind it nets, red brick houses and the late-summer trees of Trafford, where the world burbles on outside the bio-bubble. Inside it, swathes of white seats and stewards, the watching hills of the Peak District the nearest thing to an audience, though the booming tunes remain.