Jos Buttler and Phil Salt led England to a dominant seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in the fourth and final T20I as the hosts wrapped up a 2-0 series win at The Kia Oval days before their T20 World Cup defence begins.
Captain Buttler (39), who returned to the England set-up following the birth of his third child, smashed seven fours and one six during his innings as he led the charge alongside Salt (45) in an opening stand of 82 in just 6.2 overs.
Pakistan had no answer to England’s brutal batting as Buttler’s side raced to 158-3 – after dismissing the tourists for 157 – to secure a clinical victory with four-and-a-half overs to spare, a day before they fly out to Barbados for the T20 World Cup – live on Sky Sports.
Earlier, Pakistan captain Babar Azam (36) and Mohammad Rizwan (23) made the most of being reunited at the top of the order, sharing a speedy 59-run partnership (36 balls) after being put into bat, before Jofra Archer (1-31) and Adil Rashid (2-27) helped England fight back.
Some sloppy middle-order batting saw Pakistan slip to 86-5, losing Shadab Khan and Azam Khan for ducks, with Liam Livingstone (2-17) then completing a double-wicket maiden in the 15th over as he dismissed Usman Khan (38) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (0).
Adil Rashid (2-27) and Mark Wood (2-35) both took two wickets apiece as Pakistan’s batting crumbled under the pressure a week before they play their first game at the World Cup against USA at Grand Prairie Stadium.
More to follow…
Every match from the T20 World Cup is live on Sky Sports between June 1-29, with England’s first match is against Scotland in Barbados on Tuesday June 4 (3.30pm UK and Ireland time).
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