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On the back of a record partnership between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan defeated England by 10 wickets in the second T20I at the National Stadium in Karachi on September 22 (Thursday). Captain Babar and wicketkeeper-batter Rizwan stitched an unbeaten alliance of 203 runs for the first wicket to ensure the Men in Green gained parity in the seven-match series after losing the first T20I.
Chasing a monumental target of 200 runs, Pakistan openers came out firing on all cylinders and put English bowlers under tremendous pressure from the word go. Number one ranked T20I batter, Rizwan was the aggressor to begin the chase as he rode on his rich vein of form and sent the ball racing and flying to all corners of the ground.
Babar Azam, who started cautiously, accelerated in stunning fashion and left his partner-in-crime behind after reaching the half-century mark. Both Pakistan batters kept finding the boundaries at regular intervals while their running between the wickets was outstanding.
Pakistan captain notched his second T20I century and remained unbeaten on 110 runs off 66 balls. During glorious innings, Babar smacked 11 fours and five sixes. Rizwan remained unbeaten on 88 runs off 51 balls with the help of five fours and four sixes. As a result of a sensational partnership between their two big guns, Pakistan ensured their third-highest successful run chase in T20Is with three balls to spare.
Earlier, England captain Moeen Ali won the toss and elected to bat first. Ali played an explosive cameo himself was his unbeaten knock of 55 runs in 24 balls was instrumental in England posting a score of 199-5 on the board in 20 overs. Ben Duckett (43 runs off 22 balls) and Harry Brook (31 runs off 19 balls) made handy contributions with the bat as well.
For Pakistan, Haris Rauf (2/30) and Shahnawaz Dahani (2/37) bagged two wickets each while Mohammad Nawaz (1/40) chipped in with a wicket.
