Eng seal series in a thriller

Paceman Chris Woakes held his nerve in the final over to give England a hard-fought three-run win in the second Twenty20 international over Pakistan in Dubai on Friday.

Woakes conceded just seven runs in the 20th over to restrict Pakistan to 169-8 and help England defend a 173-run target to give his team an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series at Dubai stadium.

The 24,000 fans, mostly expats from Pakistan, had expected their team to pull off a sensational win after skipper Shahid Afridi smashed a blistering eight-ball 24 with three sixes and a boundary.

But Anwar Ali failed to connect on the last delivery off which Pakistan had needed four for victory.

Afridi took 22 off the 18th over by Woakes but his dismissal on the last ball left Pakistan to score 25 off the last two overs.

Pakistan's batsmen were once again reckless as most of them got good starts but failed to capitalise.

England were lifted to 172-8 by a quickfire 24-ball 38 by James Vince and 22-ball-33 by skipper Jos Buttler as they upped the tempo by notching 58 in the last five overs.

Leg-spinner Shahid Afridi, who took 3-15 in his four overs, derailed the England batting after they looked well-set at 32-0 in the fourth over.

Afridi trapped Alex Hales leg before for 11 and then had Jason Roy caught behind for 22-ball 29 (two sixes and a four) to leave England at 47-2. He then returned for his last over to have Vince caught in the deep for his 86th wicket in as many matches, beating countryman Saeed Ajmal (85 wickets in 64 matches) as the highest wicket-taker in all Twenty20 cricket.

After the game Afridi said his team have plenty of work to do.

"First I want to congratulate England as they are playing really well," said Afridi.

"But we have to improve our fitness and fielding before the World Twenty20 (next year in India).

"I had a good opportunity to win the game but I missed it."

The final match is in Sharjah on Monday.

SCORES IN BRIEF
ENGLAND:172-8 in 20 overs (James Vince-38; Jos Buttler-33; Jason Roy-29)
PAKISTAN: 169-8 in 20 overs (Ahmed Shehzad-28; Shoaib Malik-26; Afridi 3/15)
Result: England won by three runs.
Player-of-the-match: Liam Plunkett.