Twitter Reactions: England take a 1-2 lead with a big 63-run win in the third T20I against Pakistan
Mark Wood took three wickets for 25 on his return from an injury.
England came out victorious in the second T20I match against England at National Stadium in Karachi on Friday. They scored a big total of 221 runs while batting first after brilliant fifties from Ben Duckett and Harry Brook. Then returning pacer Mark Wook took three wickets to restrict hosts on just 158/8 runs to guide England to a big 63-run victory. England now lead the seven-match T20I series 1-2.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first with an unchanged team. England made three changes to their starting eleven, with Reece Topley replacing David Willey, Will Jacks coming in for rested Alex Hales, and Mark Wood replacing Luke Wood. Young pacer Mohammad Hasnain dismissed in-from opener Phil Salt on just eight runs in the first delivery of the third over to give Pakistan a good start.
But Jacks, on his debut, smashed 40 runs off just 22 balls to keep England on track for a big total. Spinner Usman Qadir dismissed Jacks and Dawid Malan in the seventh and ninth overs to get Pakistan back into the game. But Harry Brook and Ben Duckett went ballistic with an unbeaten 139-run partnership. Brook smashed the highest 81 runs off just 35 balls and Duckett scored 70 runs off 42 balls to guide England to a big 221/ total in 20 overs.
Mark Wood returns with a bang:
Pakistani openers, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan chased a 200-run target in the last match but were dismissed within the first four overs. Mark Wood, who last played a competitive match in March 2022, dismissed Babar on just eight runs and Topley bowled out Rizwan in the last delivery of the fourth over, which ensured England's early win.
Wood removed Haider Ali in the fifth over and Sam Curran dismissed Iftikhar Ahmed in the next over as Pakistan were struggling at 28/4 in 5.3 overs. But Shan Masood and Khushdil Shah formed a 62-run partnership for the fifth wicket to avoid an embarrassing defeat. Shan remained unbeaten on 65 runs off 40 balls as Pakistan scored 158/8 in 20 overs. For England Wood took three wickets while conceding only 25 runs and Adil Rashid grabbed two for 32.
Here is how Twitter reacted to England's big win over Pakistan in the third T20I:
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