Eoin Morgan leads England’s Twenty20 win over Pakistan

8 Sep 2010

England took to the field in Cardiff already the World Champions of Twenty20 cricket and, despite a somewhat hesitant beginning, went on to show their dominance over Pakistan.

In the end England won by just under three overs, seventeen bowls to be precise, and much of this victory is down to the young Irish player Eoin Morgan along with backup from Michael Yardy which led to a partnership of 67 runs. Both batted with a precision that had eluded the higher order batsmen who failed to make the best of the situation; they needed to chase only 127 runs and a somewhat dispirited Pakistan side made many errors in the field including dropping catches that would normally be taken.

At one stage the score line had been 62 runs for five wickets and it really looked as though Pakistan had a good chance of victory despite their string of errors.  Unfortunately, for Pakistan, and for cricket in general, they were deprived of the services of several of their top players, instead having to make do from a less than ideal selection. Given their recent problems Pakistan should be congratulated for their general approach to the match and obvious enjoyment of the game.

England was also deprived of their best Twenty20 player Kevin Pietersen. Somewhat controversially he has been sent back to the counties; presumably a punishment for underperforming in the test series. Selectors please note: although England won this match, it is only the second time that England has won a twenty20 match without Pietersen. On every other occasion that Pietersen has not played England has lost.

The next Twenty20 will be on 7th September and odds on another England win are 1-2 with Bluesquare.