ENG vs PAK: Liam Livingstone’s Fastest Hundred In Vain As Pakistan Beats England By 31 Runs In 1st T20

Liam Livingstone, on Saturday, smashed England’s fastest-ever T20 century but it went in vain as Babar Azam-led Pakistan won a thrilling series opener by 31 runs at Trent Bridge.

With England chasing 233, their highest T20 pursuit of all-time, Livingstone reached 50 from just 17 balls, which is also the fastest fifty by an England batsman in T20Is and 100 from 42 balls, which is the fastest hundred by the England batter in T20Is.

Liam Livingstone becomes the fastest batsman to hit a hundred for England in T20I#LiamLivingstone #PAKvENG #ENGvPAK #Cricket #ProBatsman pic.twitter.com/Lu15sx9dSO

— ProBatsman (@probatsman) July 16, 2021

Livingstone (103 off 43) went to three figures with his ninth sixth but was out on the next ball and momentum got shifted towards Pakistan.

Notably, Liam Livingstone’s 103 is also the highest individual score for an England player in a home T20I surpassing Alex Hales’ 99 against West Indies in the last T20I hosted by Trent Bridge back in 2012.

Brilliant innings from Livingstone became the fastest batsman to hit the fastest fifty & hundred for England in T20Is, he doesn't deserve to be on the losing side.#LiamLivingstone #EoinMorgan #BabarAzam #PAKvENG #ENGvPAK #Cricket #ProBatsman pic.twitter.com/ZySj0kFz4A

— ProBatsman (@probatsman) July 16, 2021

Earlier in the match, England won the toss and invited Babar Azam and co. to bat first. Pakistan got a brilliant start as their openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan shared a stunning 150-run partnership.

While Babar Azam thumped 85 from 49 balls, Mohammad Rizwan contributed 63 from 41 balls. Fakhar Zaman also did his part well as he smashed 26 runs from just 8 balls with a brilliant strike rate of 325. Mohammad Hafeez, too starred with the bat as he went on to smash 24 runs off just 10 balls. Thanks to their brilliant batting, Pakistan managed to put 232 runs on the board at the end of 20 overs.

Pakistan out-batted, out-bowled and out-fielded England and won the well deserved first T20I by 31 Runs.#ENGvPAK #PAKvENG #Cricket #ProBatsman pic.twitter.com/W709aAhKvY

— ProBatsman (@probatsman) July 16, 2021

Shaheen Afridi is the highest wicket-taker in the match as he picked up 3 wickets and conceded 30 runs in 3.2 overs. Shadab Khan too picked up 3 wickets but was quite economical as he leaked 52 runs in 4 overs. Muhammad Hasnain was also very impressive with the ball as he conceded only 28 runs in 4 overs while picking one wicket.

The second T20I between England and Pakistan will be played on Sunday at Headingley Carnegie.