England wicketkeeper-batter Jordan Cox starred with an explosive 75 off 37 balls as the Lions side sealed a T20 series whitewash over Pakistan Shaheens in Abu Dhabi yesterday (February 24).
The Lions had already sealed victory in the three-match series, but went into the third and final match looking for a clean-sweep. That looked well on the cards when Saqib Mahmood dismissed captain Shamyl Hussain with the second ball of the game.
The star for England with the ball, however, was Scott Currie, who took 3-27, taking two wickets in the 13th over to swing the game in the Lions's favour after the Shaheens had reached 97-3. James Coles was once again impressive with the ball taking 2-28 off his four overs while fellow spinners Nathan Sowter and Dan Mousley went wicketless.
Maaz Sadaqat was the only Shaheens batter to pass 50, reaching 53 off 36 before he became one of Currie's victims.
Read more: T20 World Cup semi-final scenarios: What Pakistan need to qualify after defeat against England
3rd unofficial T20, England Lions vs Pakistan Shaheens
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Jordan Cox stars in Lions win
Set 163 to win, England stuttered in the chase. Opener Will Smeed was bowled by Mohammad Salman for one, before Ben Mckinney and Jordan Cox put on a 54-run partnership. McKinney was dismissed by Sadaqat in the sixth over, leaving Cox to counter attack as wickets fell around him. By the end of the eighth over, Cox was closing in on a half century, having already hit five fours and four sixes in his innings. He reached the milestone with a single off Sufyan Muqeem, before continuing to attack in the following over.
Cox made his T20I and ODI debuts for England in 2024, and most recently played international cricket in England's T20I series against Ireland at the end of last summer. He has been named in several England Test squads, although twice his path to a Test debut has been blocked by injuries. He was part of the Lions squad which toured Australia earlier in the winter alongside the first part of the Ashes tour.
After Cos had reached his half-century, England lost Asa Tribe and Coles with seven balls in the 10th and 11th over, leaving them five wickets down and still with 67 runs to get. Cox and Mousley formed an important 35-run stand before Cox was dismissed for 75 off 37 balls by Saad Masood.
Mousley's 28 off 23 got the Lions closer, but he was out off the fifth ball of the 18th over, and Currie was run out two balls later to leave the equation at 12 runs needed from 11 balls with three wickets in hand. A boundary from Sowter brought the chase back to the Lions however, and despite Tom Moores' dismissal in the final over, they got over the line with two wickets and three balls to spare.
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