ABU DHABI: James Coles’ unbeaten 48 and four wickets helped England Lions to a 32-run win in the second unofficial T20 against Pakistan Shaheens.
Shaheens captain Shamil Hussain’s decision to field first backfired as the Lions posted a mammoth total of 183/5 in their 20 overs thanks to Coles’ late blitz.
The Lions, however, had a mixed start to their innings as they lost right-arm opener Will Smeet (nil) to the very first ball.
Following an early stumble, captain Jordan Cox combined with opener Ben McKinney to put up a crucial 61-run partnership for the second wicket.
Subian Mukeem dismissed the opener in the seventh over and scored 38 runs off 25 balls with the help of 6 fours.
Cox then went on to form brief partnerships with Asa Tripe (six) and Coles before eventually falling to Saad Masjid in the 12th over, before retiring after scoring 34 off 30 balls with 4 fours and a six.
On the other hand, Coles batted till the end and scored an unbeaten 48 off 30 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes to ensure a strong finish for the Lions.
He was supported by Don Mousley and wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Moores who remained unbeaten on 19 and 16 off 17 balls respectively.
For Shaheens, Shahid Aziz and Masood took 2 wickets each and Mukeem took one wicket.
Chasing a tough target of 184 runs, Shaheen’s batting unit were bowled out for 151 runs in 19.3 overs.
Shaheens left-arm opener Maz Sadaq top-scored with 32 off 25 balls, followed by all-rounder Saad with 30 off 17 balls, Hasan Nawaz, Saad Baig and skipper Hussain on 20 each and Shahid (15) in double figures.
Coles led the Lions’ bowling with economical bowling figures of 4/18 from his four overs, followed by Sonny Baker and Scott Currie with two each, with Mousley chipping in with a scalp.
The 32-run victory helped England Lions take a 2-0 lead in the series against Pakistan Lions, with the third and final match scheduled to be played at the same venue on Tuesday.