Morgan blasts England to win over Pakistan

London, May 5: Eoin Morgan's unbeaten half-century sealed a seven-wicket victory for England after Jofra Archer impressed with the ball on his Twenty20 International debut against Pakistan.

A third-wicket stand of 103 between Babar Azam (65 off 42 balls) and Haris Sohail (50 from 36) enabled Pakistan to post 173-6 in the one-off T20 in Cardiff on Sunday.

All-rounder Archer took 2-29 from his four overs and also ran Azam out two days after making his one-day International bow in the win over Ireland.

Captain Morgan saw his side home with four balls to spare by hitting Faheem Ashraf for his third six, finishing not out on 57 from just 29 deliveries.

Joe Root (47) and James Vince (36) also contributed as England warmed up for the ODI series – which starts on Wednesday – against the same opponents with a victory.

Tom Curran made a key impact with bat and ball against Ireland and struck in his first over two days later, Morgan taking a fine one-handed catch to remove Fakhar Zaman.

Archer took a wicket with his fifth ball in T20 international cricket, doing fellow debutant Imam-ul-Haq for pace with a short delivery which the opener gloved through to Ben Foakes.

David Willey avoided what could have been a serious injury when his foot went through the lid of an underground storage space as he ran into bowl as Sohail and Azam set about putting Pakistan on their way to a challenging total.

Azam used his feet superbly to come down the track and dispatch Adil Rashid for six down the ground and welcomed Joe Denly's introduction with back-to-back sixes over midwicket before reaching his half-century off 31 balls.

Sohail had a 50 of his own from 34 deliveries, striking a six and another five boundaries before holing out off Archer, who ran Azam out with a direct hit two balls later in the 16th over.

England were 48-1 at the end of the opening powerplay with Ben Duckett – another debutant – falling cheaply and Vince looked in great touch before he was adjudged caught behind down the leg side off Imad Wasim.

Root mixed up improvised strokes – including a reverse scoop for four – with textbook drives, but fell three short of a deserved half-century.

Morgan showed great timing and power as he kept England well on course for victory with support from Denly (20no) and lofted Ashraf over his head to win it in the final over.