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England started off their quest for the semis in style with a comfortable victory over Pakistan in the opening match of the second stage of the ICC World T20 competition, the Super 8s. The English bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals to restrict Pakistan to 147 in their 20 overs and then the batsmen knocked off the runs with ease as Kevin Pietersen helped himself to a well made 73 off just 52 deliveries after the openers got the innings off to a flyer. Some sloppy catching by Pakistan did not help their cause, with Saeed Ajmal the main culprit grassing three chances early on in the England innings.

Paul Collingwood won the toss and put Pakistan in on a wicket that offered some bounce for the quicker bowlers. The English pace trio of Sidebottom, Bresnan & Broad tried to exploit the same as the Pakistani openers Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal were at the receiving end of some short-pitched stuff. But the openers seemed upto the challenge as Akmal pulled the first ball of the innings for a six and they kept on cutting and pulling the ball with glee. The scoreboard moved steadily at just around 7 runs an over till Broad got Akmal (15) to top edge one in the fifth over and Kieswetter completed an easy catch.

Mohammad Hafeez was in at number 3 and he tried to build a partnership with Butt, who had by then got his eye in. England's new spin twins Michael Yardy and Graeme Swann started in tandem as soon as the fielding restrictions were over, but the former was carded for 12 in his opening over, and was immediately pulled out from the attack. Collingwood brought himself on in Yardy's place and he was deposited over the mid-wicket boundary by Butt. Swann meanwhile was into a tidy spell at the other end and he got the much needed breakthrough in his second over when Butt (34) failed to clear short cover and hit the ball straight to Collingwood.

Butt's dismissal prompted the fielding skipper to throw the ball back to Yardy and he responded immediately with the wicket of Hafeez for 18. And if that was not enough, things got worse for Pakistan as they lost their skipper Shahid Afridi for a first ball duck as he set off for a single that was never there. The non-striker showed no interest in the run and Afridi didn't have enough time to get back.

Misbah-ul-Haq joined Umar Akmal in the centre with Pakistan struggling at 77 for 4 in 10.4 overs and set out to repair the innings. Stuart Broad was brought back in the 14th over and Misbah carted a free-hit for a rare maximum over long on. In the very next over with the partnership at 25 runs, Misbah (13) went for a reverse sweep off the final ball of Yardy's spell and had his woodwork disturbed. Yardy signed off with very impressive figures off 2 for 19 off his 4 overs, conceding just 7 runs from his final 18 deliveries!

Umar Akmal hit Swann for a six over mid-wicket and then played a clever chip over short fine leg off Sidebottom in the 17th over. But two balls later, a short one did the trick for the bowler as Akmal (30) top edged an attempted pull to deep mid-wicket and Kevin Pietersen took a beauty running around the boundary. Broad got Fawad Alam (1) in the very next over and that put the pressure on Razzaq to get the big shots in the last couple of overs.

Three dot balls and a single was something Pakistan could ill-afford in the 19th over bowled by Sidebottom. Razzaq, now under even more pressure, struck the 5th ball for a straight six but holed out the very next ball while trying to clear long-off to give Sidebottom his second wicket. Bresnan got Aamer first ball in the 20th over but two top-edges going for a 4 and a 6 off Saeed Ajmal's bat helped Pakistan get 15 runs off the last five balls and took the total to a seemingly competitive 147.

Abdul Razzaq, who didn't have a bowl in the previous match, was given the new ball ahead off Aamer, who had so far been very impressive. Razzaq almost got an early breakthrough  that Pakistan so desperately wantedm as he had Kieswetter scooping one to mid-on, only for Saeed Ajmal to drop a dolly. Asif and Aamer followed up with two tidy overs conceding five and six respectively. Aamer nearly had Kieswetter again, with the wicketkeeper batsman living a charmed life as his chip just cleared a non-leaping Ajmal at mid-off. Lumb struck a six and a four off Asif in the next over and Kieswetter followed it with two more boundaries to get the momentum going in favour of England. The ball kept following Ajmal as he dropped another chance off Aamir, Lumb being the beneficiary on this occasion.

Ajmal was give the ball in the sixth over to try and make amends for his dropped catches and he did so with the wicket of Lumb, who had looked good thus far. Hafeez came on at the other end and Kieswetter welcomed him with a huge hit. Afridi too was welcomed into the attack by a first-ball boundary from Pietersen's blade. Meanwhile Kieswetter finally ran out of luck and he spooned a skier off Razzaq and thankfully it was Umar Akmal and not Ajmal at long-on who safely completed the catch.

Collingwood joined Pietersen in the middle, with the latter really timing the ball well. Pietersen offered a sharp chance to Razzaq off his own bowling, but the bowler failed to latch on. Pietersen cashed in and deposited the next ball to the extra-cover boundary to rub salt into the wounds. The former skipper found an ideal partner in Collingwood and the pair stitched together a nice partnership, getting boundaries at regular intervals as England moved closer towards their first victory in the Super 8s.

Pietersen reached his fifty with a straight six off Afridi in the 16th over in 41 balls. Collingwood tried to replicate the shot but hit it straight to Umar Akmal at long-on. But by then the job was more or less done with the team needing 23 off the last 4 overs. KP kept on going and hit a couple of exquisitely-timed boundaries off Asif to bring the target down to 12 off the last 3 overs. Ajmal came back for his 3rd over. A sequence of three dot balls to Morgan was followed by a boundary but the bowler dismissed the talented Irishman off the last ball of the over. It was all too little too late for Pakistan as Pietersen hit another couple of boundaries to seal the win.

Pakistan never seemed to be in the hunt as the early let-offs for both opener turned out to be very costly in the end. England will be pleased with their performance, especially the bowling that responded well after a steady start by Pakistan. It was the first time in three games that their bowlers actually got a work out, and you can be sure they will be tested further by New Zealand and South Africa in the coming few days.

This win takes England closer to their first World T20 semi-final and they would feel one more victory in either of their two remaining games should get the job done. Pakistan on the other hand will in all likelihood need to win both their matches to stay in contention. The defending champs have got their backs against the wall and that is when they are usually at their most dangerous. They take on New Zealand in the early start on Saturday, with England in action later the same day against South Africa.

Mini scorecard:

Pakistan 146/7 (20 overs)
S Butt 34 (26)                M Yardy 2-19
U Akmal 30 (25)             S Broad 2-25

England 151/4 (19.3 overs)
K Pietersen 73 (52)        S Ajmal 2-18
M Lumb 25 (13)             A Razzaq 1-22

Man of the Match: Kevin Pietersen

Also Read:

India vs. Australia Match Preview

Sri Lanka vs. West Indies Match Preview

File Photograph Copyright: ICC World T20

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