Sahibzada excels as Pakistan post competitive 164 for 9 vs England

Pallekele, Feb 24 (PTI) Sahibzada Farhan continued his fine form with yet another half-century as Pakistan scored a competitive 164 for 9 on a sluggish surface against England in a must-win Super Eights game of the T20 World Cup here on Tuesday.

Farhan scored 63 off 45 balls, and his knock was laced with seven fours and two sixes against the English spinners, who were on target for the better part of the Pakistan innings.

Left-arm spinner Liam Dawson was the pick of the England bowlers with 3 for 24 and also he didn't let Pakistan reach the 175-run target with back-to-back breakthroughs in the 18th over.

Dawson first claimed Usman Khan, whose wild slog was gobbled up by Jamie Overton, while Mohammed Nawaz was caught plumb in front off the very next ball. He bowled wicket to wicket, got the deliveries to grip, and had as many as 12 dot balls to his credit.

The Pakistan innings lost a bit of momentum after Farhan and comeback man Fakhar Zaman (25 off 16 balls) departed in quick succession following a brisk fourth-wicket stand of 49 in 4.5 overs.

Farhan swept well against the slow bowlers and smashed off-spinner Will Jacks deep into the cow corner embankment.

While Zaman, after a few lusty blows, failed to read Adil Rashid's googly as Overton ran backwards to take a well-judged catch.

But Overton's (2/26 in 4 overs) most significant contribution during the innings was a pin-point yorker to Farhan, who was late in reacting and the ball hit the base of the middle stump.

Earlier, Saim Ayub's technique was once again exposed by Jofra Archer (2/32 in 4 overs) as a fast and short ball saw him mistime a pull and was holed out deep behind square.

Skipper Salman Ali Agha's woeful tournament continued as Overton took a smart catch to give Dawson his first breakthrough of the game.

While Farhan had to curb his natural instincts during the front-10, Babar Azam (25 off 24 balls) once again struggled to force the pace, adding 46 off just 7.2 overs.

Having been stopped on his tracks and not able to get the big hits going, he tried an indiscreet hoick off Overton and was bowled in the process. PTI KHS KHS AH AH