Chasing 195, a ruthless onslaught in the powerplay overs coupled with a brilliant batting display set up an easy win for England over Pakistan in the second T20I in the three-match Vitality Series at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester.
Here are the biggest talking points from the match:
A historic run chase
This was the highest successful run chase by England in their own backyard, beating the previous record of 173, which also came against Pakistan in 2019 at Cardiff.
This was also England's third-highest successful run chase in T20Is, behind their 230-run chase in 2016 ICC T20 World Cup in India and 223 at the SuperSport Park in February this year, both against South Africa.
England's 195-run chase in this contest is the second-highest chased down in England after India's 199 at Bristol in July 2018.
It was also the 17th highest overall run chase in T20I history.
Captain Morgan leads by example
England skipper Eoin Morgan proved that his failure in the first T20I wad merely an anomaly, by smashing a brilliant 66 off 33 to guide England to victory.
Morgan's numbers are absolutely sensational since the start of 2019. The 33-year-old has scored 484 runs at a monstrous average of 48.40 and an incredible strike-rate of 174.10 in 14 outings with the bat.
This was also his fifth fifty in those 14 matches, which is two more than he managed from 2009 till 2018. The skipper is leading his team by example.
A disastrous performance for the Pakistani speedsters
Despite a tremendous effort from the batting unit, led by veteran Mohammad Hafeez's 69 off 36 and skipper Babar Azam's 56 off 44 balls, Pakistan never looked like they were in the game during the second innings.
The pace bowling unit had an off day, especially Shaheen Shah Afridi, who conceded 44 in 3.1 overs at an extremely poor economy rate of 13.89 without picking any wickets.
The experienced Mohammad Amir did not fare much better, bowling just two overs for 25 runs before injury prematurely ended his participation in the match. Speedster Haris Rauf was the pick of the bunch, bowling four overs for 35 and picking a couple of wickets, the only Pakistani bowler alongside Shadab Khan that had any sort of impact on the proceedings in the second innings.
If Pakistan are to level the series, they will need their pacers to step up and curb the run flow against England's deep batting line-up in the third and final T20I.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Mike Hewitt
