England Wins 2nd T20I by 23 Runs Against Pakistan in Birmingham

IMAGE - EspnCricinfo

England thumped Pakistan by 23 runs in the opening T20I at Edgbaston. Jos Buttler smashed 84 runs for England, while Reece Topley bagged three wickets to help secure a 1-0 series lead.

England Bat First

Sent in to bat, England piled up 183 runs. Buttler anchored the innings with his masterclass batting of 84 runs knock, while Will Jacks (37) provided early fireworks. Jonny Bairstow and Jofra Archer added valuable late cameos.

Pakistan's Chase

Pakistan's chase crumbled from the start, losing Mohammad Rizwan for a duck. Babar Azam (32) and Fakhar Zaman (45) offered fightback, but wickets fell at regular intervals. Cameos from Iftikhar Ahmed and Imad Wasim couldn't prevent a 23-run defeat.

England bowlers, led by Topley and Archer, restricted Pakistan to 160 runs.

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Pakistan Captain - Babar Azam 

"I think our bowlers bowled very well and in the batting we had our moments, but we aren't close to finished.

"We had a small partnership, me and Fakhar. If someone had kicked on to a fifty, if we'd have batted two or three more overs, it might have been a different ball game."

England Captain :- Jos Butler (Player of the Match)

"I think we got a huge amount out of today.

"First and foremost, win the game. That's a big tick in the box and there were some great performances from everybody.

"You always want to be playing well. In T20s there are some peaks and troughs, naturally, but I feel like I'm hitting the ball well, which is great and it was nice to get a few runs today."  

Jos Buttler On Jofra Archer

"I thought he was brilliant. And you could see the emotion, taking wickets again for England.

"We've got to temper expectations. It's been a long time and he's not going to be the Jofra of old straight away, but I thought it was a really positive performance.

"We absolutely want to get games into him but we've got to look after him as well."