England played some brilliant cricket against Pakistan in the first T20 match of the series, which helped them emerge triumphant and take 1-0 lead in the best of three-match series. The Three Lions will be more than eager to come up with a similar performance and clinch the series when these two teams square off in Dubai for the second T20 on Friday.
Pakistan, on the other hand, need to come up with an improved performance if they are to have any chance of levelling the series in Dubai.
Pakistan had in fact started the first T20 on a bright note -- taking quick wickets -- but England's skipper Eoin Morgan and debutant James Vince played a good hand of 45 and 41 runs respectively, which brought back the hosts into the game.
However, it was the brilliant knock of Sam Billings, who scored an impressive 53 from 25 balls that helped England amass 160 runs. During the run chase, Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals as they were tottering at 75 for 7 before their tailenders wagged their tail to good effect helping Pakistan reach 146 runs. Pakistan needs to be more consistent in the second T20 with both the bat and ball.
Morgan was pleased the way his players performed in the first T20.
"Tonight was a really strong performance in which we showed a lot of character. To come back from 19-3 and then to defend 160 was really good. It's always a good sign of a changing room when players who haven't played all tour come out and perform - I'm really proud of them," BBC Sport quoted Morgan as saying.
The Pakistani batsmen needs to come up with a better performance in the second T20. They have some quality batsmen in their ranks, which includes Sarfaraz Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi among others, who needs to deliver on Friday.
It will not be surprising if Pakistan makes some changes in their batting line up and brings Akmal up the order and also makes some changes in the playing eleven.
"We don't have any excuses for this. That was a chaseable total, but we batted very poorly. I know we lost this game but we've got some positive things from it," said Afridi.
With England players having to come up with good cricket in the first T20, it remains to be seen if the Three Lions will make any changes to their winning combination in the second T20.
Both the teams are using this T20 series as preparations for the upcoming World T20 in India next year as they are still finding their best team combinations and are giving a fair share of chances to those cricketers, who have not got much chance to play.
The second T20 match is more important for Pakistan, who has to win in Dubai in order to have any chance of winning the series in Sharjah in the third and final T20 on Monday.
Where to watch live
Pakistan vs England 2nd T20 is scheduled for an 8pm local time (9:30pm IST, 4pm GMT, 9pm PKT) start with live coverage in India on Ten Cricket. The live streaming option will be available on Tensports.com.
Pakistani cricket fans can enjoy the Pakistan vs England 2nd T20 match live on PTV with the option of watching it online on PTV Online. Geo Super Tv will also provide live streaming for the Pakistan vs England 2nd T20 match.
The viewers in the UK can enjoy the entire Pakistan vs England 2nd T20 match live action on Sky Sports 2/HD, with live streaming on Sky Go.
Viewers in the US can watch Pakistan vs England 2nd T20 live on Willow TV and stream the game on Willow TV Online.
