Rashid and Buttler star as England level the series at Headingley

Adil Rashid and Jos Buttler starred on their returns to action as England beat Pakistan by 45 runs in the second T20I at Headingley.

With England needing a win to keep their series hopes alive, Buttler recovered from a calf injury to captain the side as Eoin Morgan made the courageous call of dropping himself.

Whilst Rashid returned to the side after being rested from the heavy defeat at Trent Bridge alongside Chris Jordan. David Willey and Lewis Gregory were the men to drop out.

Jason Roy seemed to be in the mood for runs after smashing 10 from the first three balls of the game after being put in to bat, however, his stay was short-lived with Imad Wasim claiming the last laugh after the Surrey batsman played one slog too many and sliced into the hands of Babar Azam at point.

Wasim would strike again in his second over to put England in trouble at 18-2. Dawid Malan failed to reach double figures for the fourth consecutive innings with the world’s number one T20I batsman top-edging into the hands of Azam Khan for just one.

Buttler would then deliver what we’ve grown accustomed to seeing him do at the top of England’s T20I side in the last three years.

The 30-year-old averages 53 runs when opening in T20I’s and showed his quality when England needed it most. His first boundary, an excellent cover drive, was a sign of things to come, though Buttler’s scoop over fine leg for six was certainly the pick of the bunch.

He was joined by Moeen Ali, who was keen to make an impression following his promotion to number four. The Worcestershire all-rounder certainly did that too after scoring 17 runs from Haris Rauf’s first over to swing the pendulum in England’s favour at the end of the powerplay.

Ali continued to show why he is held in great esteem in the IPL and why England are wrong to waste his batting talents lower down the order.

However, Hasnain would bring his innings to close for a quickfire 36 with a slower ball which was chipped into the hands of Azam at mid-off.

That would bring the man of the moment, Liam Livingstone, to the crease off the back of his sublime century in the ultimately unsuccessful chase in Nottingham. It would only take him four balls to register his first maximum.

Meanwhile, Buttler would bring up his 14th T20I half-century from just 33 balls, but despite the strike rate of 151, it was a somewhat risk-free knock with the stand-in captain always in control of his strokes.

That being said, he would soon fall to Hasnain who gained revenge for that audacious ramp shot earlier on in the innings. Buttler would untypically pick out Azam at mid-off for 59 with his opposite number taking a sharp catch.

Jonny Bairstow failed to get going on his home ground and was out for just 13 after the Yorkshireman picked out Fakhar Zaman at long-off.

Livingstone continued to motor on though and went even bigger than his previous six. Commentators struggled to find words to describe the shot as the Lancashire man becomes more undroppable as the games go by.

He would have been disappointed with his dismissal though. After mistiming a scoop shot to square-leg, Tom Curran had already made his way down the track and forced Livingstone into the run, however, Azam Khan’s throw was directed onto the stumps with Livingstone well short of the crease.

England’s tail managed to put 36 runs on the board with the hosts being bowled out for 200. The form of Mohammad Rizwan and Azam meant that an astute performance with the ball was needed if the series was to be brought level.

Despite recent scores of 158 and 85, Azam failed to time the ball to his usual standard before being dismissed by Saqib Mahmood. Nonetheless, it was a vital wicket with the tourists at 50-0 from just 5.3 overs. Extra bounce generated by Mahmood was enough to see off Azam who sliced straight to mid-off.

That wicket seemed to signify the start of a collapse for the tourists who lost six wickets for just 56 runs, with England’s spinners playing a large part.

Adil Rashid is a bowler of many variations and tricks, however, it was a brilliant stock leg-spinner that dismissed Sohaib Maqsood who was stumped after attempting to hit the ball back down the ground.

It was going to take something special to claim the wicket of Rizwan, who averages 45 in T20I’s and was going well on 37, but once again Rashid pulled a rabbit out the hat with a sublime one-handed catch to his weaker left side off his own bowling.

Ali would then strike next with Mohammad Hafeez picking out Bairstow in the deep before he spun one past the edge of Zaman and onto the stumps to leave Pakistan 95-5.

Matt Parkinson would then join the party after tempting Azam Khan to throw the kitchen sink at a flighted leg-spinner which saw Buttler pick up his second stumping of the afternoon.

Wasim and Shadab Khan briefly provided some resistance to the Pakistani lineup with the latter also displaying some impressive hitting. Although, scoreboard pressure was bound to take its toll as Wasim chipped into the hands of Roy to hand Curran a wicket.

59 runs from 17 deliveries were the improbable challenge that Shaheen Shah Afridi faced when arriving at the crease, and he would soon fall with a top-edge off the bowling of Mahmood, who would also produce a brilliant yorker to see off Rauf.

Hasnain managed to hang around with Shadab Khan until the end, but nonetheless, it was a disappointing showing with the bat from Pakistan which was undoubtedly impacted by England’s bowling antics.

Rashid continues to get better and better in an England shirt, whilst Ali once again proved his value with both bat and ball to claim the Man of the Match award and boost his chances of making the World Cup squad.

Buttler’s return to form and fitness is another boost to Eoin Morgan with the number one ranked T20I side looking to add the shorter format world title to their 50-over one.

Livingstone also has added his name to a list of players who will feel hard-done-by if they are not to make the squad with England’s white-ball depth truly breathtaking.

Azam will be disappointed with his side’s collapse but will hope it was a one-off as opposed to a regular occurrence. The future of Pakistan bowling with the likes of Afridi, Hasnain and Khan unquestionably looks bright.

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