Razzaq rampage hailed

Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq is in full swing during his rampant 46 off 18 balls in the second Twenty20 international against England at the Dubai Sports City Stadium on Saturday.Photo: AFP

Spectacular scoring feats aren't exactly a novelty in Twenty20 cricket, but both England's captain, Paul Collingwood, and his opposite number, Shoaib Malik, had to concede that Abdul Razzaq's ferocious late onslaught in the second Twenty20 in Dubai had taken the breath away. From an uncompromising position of 78 for 5 after 13 overs, Razzaq turned the contest on its head with a brilliant unbeaten 46 from 18 balls, including five sweetly struck sixes that left no room for equivocation.
"There's no shame in losing like that," said Collingwood. "We're disappointed because we've lost, but sometimes players play innings that deserve to win the game for their country. [Razzaq] put his heart into the innings and struck the ball cleanly from ball one, and sometimes there's not a lot you can do as a fielding unit to stop a guy like that."
Malik, for his part, used the word "awesome" on at least six separate occasions to sum up an innings that ended Pakistan's ignominious run of 10 defeats in a row, in all formats, that stretches back to their tour of New Zealand before Christmas. "We needed this performance before the T20 World Cup, because we were struggling before these two matches," he said. "The way our boys played was awesome to see, and his hitting was absolutely clean and marvellous. He's one of the best players in our team."
"When I went to the crease I was very confident," said Razzaq, who shared in a match-turning stand of 48 in four overs with Fawad Alam. "I was telling Fawad we should win this one. I was saying 'you can, you will' and we did. The team needed that, to hit the ball hard. Thankfully I hit, I think, five sixes because the team needed that to get victory."
England later headed off to Bangladesh for three ODIs and two Tests, meaning that the Twenty20 format will be put on the back-burner until the squad reconvenes in the Caribbean for the World Twenty20. With consecutive shared series against South Africa in November and now Pakistan in February, Collingwood is confident that they are ready to put on a decent performance in April and May, starting with a tricky group that includes Ireland and West Indies.