An unbeaten partnership of 67 for the sixth wicket between Eoin Morgan and Michael Yardy clinched a win for England in the first T20I at Sophia Gardens. The two left handers got together at a time when England was in deep trouble at 62 for 5 in 10 overs. Yardy got in and played some fluent drives through extra covers while Eoin Morgan had a great escape when Shoaib Akhtar spilled a sitter! Morgan made Pakistan pay for that with a match winning effort of 38 not out from 24 balls (with 6 fours). His partner Michael Yardy drove his way to 35 not out from 26 balls. England chased the target of 126 with 17 balls to spare.
Michael Yardy got the Man of the Match for his all-round efforts.
Pakistan Innings
Pakistan asked to bat first by Paul Collingwood at Cardiff could only post 126 for 4 in the allotted 20 overs! Not one batsman reached a half century and the top scorer was Umar Akmal with an unbeaten 35 from 30 balls (with 2 fours). The Pakistani batsmen struggled to get their timing right in their big shots and the outfield which received some rain prior to the start wasn't at its best at all. Plenty of aerial shots were just not going the long distance at all!
There was lots of turn for Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy which was good enough to strangle the batsmen. Swann finished with 2 for 14 in his 4 overs while Yardy got 1 for 21 in his 4 overs.