Babar Azam reveals reason behind Pakistan’s defeat in second England T20I

Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam believes that his side conceded 30 runs too many in the second Twenty20 International (T20I) against England in Leeds on Sunday.

The visitors, who won the first of the three-match series on Friday, lost the second T20I by 45 runs after failing to chase down 201-run target.

“We gave away too many runs, perhaps 30 too many, and weren’t able to carry through the momentum we built at the top. Lost my wicket at a crucial time, but we back our ability to chase down a total because we’ve done it in the past,” said Babar during the post-match presentation ceremony.  

“Happy with our spinners but the fast bowlers leaked too many runs and we’ll look to rectify that in the next game. Hope for an improved performance,” he added.

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Meanwhile, England’s stand-in captain Jos Buttler was happy with his side’s performance.

“Thought we were fantastic, quite good to lose the toss, put together a good score and put a lot of pressure on them,” said Buttler. “Great to be back and nice to contribute. Great team performance, asked a lot of the guys and improved on the other night. Two great games and I’m sure the decider will be as well.”

He also praises England’s spinners, who were instrumental in his side’s victory after the trio of Adil Rashid, Matt Parkinson and Moeen Ali bagged five wickets during the match.

“Yes, absolutely Rashid’s been fantastic for a long time and Parky [Matt Parkinson] has earned his chance, they bowled fantastically well in tandem,” he concluded.  

The third and final T20I of the series will be played on Tuesday at Old Trafford, Manchester.