England Lions win series despite defeat to Pakistan A in final game

By Sam Dixon

Another miserly spell of spin bowling by James Tredwell (pictured) wasn“t enough to stop England Lions from slipping to a narrow four wicket defeat to Pakistan A in the final match of their three match Twenty20 series in Abu Dhabi.

The Kent spinner continued his fine tour, as he comfortably recorded the Lions“ most economical bowling figures, none for 21 off his four overs, as England failed to defend 146.

Batting first, Craig Kieswetter thumped 50 off 32 balls as the Lions got off to a flying start, racing to 58 for one within the first six overs. However, they were bogged down in the middle overs as Abdur Rehman took two for 21- including the wicket of Kieswetter, and in the end relied on a run-a-ball 36 from captain Andrew Gale to see the Lions to a respectable, if slightly below par, 146 for four off their twenty overs. Former Kent man Peter Trego also played his part; hitting 14 off just nine balls.

Wickets from opening bowlers Steve Kirby and Steven Finn reduced Pakistan to 18 for two in their run-chase but a composed stand of 71 runs in nine overs from Asad Shafiq and Umair Khan got things back on course. Tredwell, alongside spin-twin Adil Rashid, kept the scoring rate down in the middle period as Rashid picked up the wicket of Shafiq for 31. Despite wickets falling at a steady rate, with Kirby finishing with figures of three for 33, Pakistan maintained a required run-rate of just above seven per over before leaving themselves with just six required off the last over to be bowled by Sajid Mahmood. The over started with Mahmood running out Naeem Ahmed for seven before Tanvir Ahmed kept a cool head to hit the penultimate ball of the innings for four and secure a consolation win for Pakistan as the Lions took the series 2-1.