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After being blanked by a new-look English side in the three-match ODI series, Pakistan will now face a strong England side under regular skipper Eoin Morgan in the T20I series. The T20I leg of the tour will kick off today with the first T20i match. Babar Azam's side will hope for a fresh start after a disappointing ODI series.
Pakistan have already confirmed that young and dashing batsman Azam Khan will make his debut in this game. By this decision, team management has made its intentions clear that they want some fire power in the middle order.
Trent Bridge will host the first T20I of the series in Nottingham. So far, Pakistan have played one T20I game at this venue and have managed to emerge victorious in it.
Shahid Afridi's all-round showing helped Pakistan beat South Africa in the 1st semi-final of the 2009 ICC T20 World Cup at Trent Bridge
The Pakistan team's last T20I match at Trent Bridge in Nottingham took place on June 18, 2009. It was the all-important semi-final of the 2009 ICC T20 World Cup held in England. Younis Khan-led Pakistan squared off against a strong South African team in this high-octane clash.
Younis Khan won the coin toss and elected to bat first in the pressure game. Kamran Akmal(23 in 12 balls) gave Pakistan a blazing start by hitting a flurry of boundaries but soon perished in Steyn's second over.
Team management then promoted Shahid Afridi(51 in 34 balls) to the number 3 position in the hope of a quick-fire inning. The swashbuckling all-rounder didn't disappoint them as he stroked his way to a blistering half-century to give much-needed momentum to his side in the middle overs.
Part-time spinner JP Duminy brought curtains to Afridi's entertaining knock by dismissing him with a flighted off-spinner in the 13th over. Shoaib Malik(34) and Younis Khan(24) then took Pakistan to 149/4 in 20 overs.
In reply, Kallis(64) and Graeme Smith(10) put 40 runs for the first wicket and gave the Proteas team a decent start. But Shahid Afridi(2/16) took the prized wickets of Herschelle Gibbs(5) and AB de Villiers(1) to dismantle the opposition middle order. Kallis tried his best to rescue the team by stitching a 61-run partnership with JP Duminy(44*) for the 4th wicket. Saeed Ajmal(1/23) castled out Kallis in the 18th over to put his side ahead in the contest.
The lower order failed to score quickly in the crunch situation, and resultantly, South Africa fell short by seven runs in the end. Shahid Afridi deservedly won Player of the Match for his magnificent showing with both bat and ball.
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