PHIL Salt smashed an unbeaten 88 from 41 balls as England stormed to an eight-wicket win over Pakistan in the sixth Twenty20 international.
Chasing 170 for victory in Lahore, Salt bludgeoned his way to a 19-ball half-century – the third fastest by an Englishman in T20 internationals – in a stunning display of hitting as the tourists levelled the series at 3-3 with one to play.

It was a good toss for England captain Moeen Ali to win, as a heavy dew made batting that much easier as the game went on, but despite that, the manner in which England knocked off the runs was remarkable.
Salt was at his brutal best in hitting 13 fours and three sixes and England had the luxury of being able to slow down and cruise to their target with 33 balls to spare.

Earlier, Pakistan captain Babar Azam had made an unbeaten 87 from 59 balls and showed all his class but lacked any significant support.
England’s three left-seamers – Reece Topley, Sam Curran and David Willey – were the pick of the bowlers and it quickly became apparent the 169-6 they restricted Pakistan to would not be enough.

“The way we batted was outstanding, we almost killed the game off straight away,” said Moeen.
“It just shows if you stick to the process, you don’t have to slog. They were proper shots.

“That was a really impressive performance from everybody. It’s great for the series that it is 3-3, I think it’s been a brilliant series so far. We’re looking for an exciting game in the last one.”
The teams will remain in Lahore for the decider tomorrow (15:30 BST).

With Pakistan losing T20 debutant Mohammad Haris and Shan Masood early – and their leading run-scorer in the series Mohammad Rizwan left out – the onus was soon on Babar to take the side to a competitive total.
He anchored the innings to perfection, seemingly managing to play risk-free cricket while also scoring comfortably in excess of a run a ball.

The closest England came to dismissing him came via a run-out when he was on 24, with Curran’s shy at the stumps missing its mark.
Promising stands of 47 and 48 with Haider Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed respectively were cut short by Curran, who took 2-26 from his four overs, but Babar could not be dislodged.

The opener was in complete control and after easing to a 27th T20I fifty from 41 balls, effortlessly lofted the ball back over Richard Gleeson’s head to go past 3 000 runs in the format.
It was Babar’s 81st innings, making him the joint fastest to the milestone, alongside India star Virat Kohli. (BBC Sport)