Kevin Pietersen was England?s savior returning to the team after injury to hit a 38 ball 58 to help the host through to the Super Eights thanks to a superior run rate.

England booked their place in the second round Super Eights of the ICC World Twenty20 with a 48-run win over Pakistan at the Oval on Sunday.

The hosts, 48 hours after their shock four-wicket loss to the Netherlands, bounced back to record a win which, because their net run-rate was now superior to that of the Dutch, ensured their progress in the tournament.

Pakistan, finalists at the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa two years ago, now face a make or break Group B clash against the Netherlands at Lord’s on Tuesday.

Kevin Pietersen came back from an Achilles injury to lead England to a total of 185 for five with 58 after missing Friday’s Dutch debacle at Lord’s.

Pakistan, chasing 186 for victory, saw Stuart Broad take two wickets in as many balls to reduce them to 41 for three at the end of the six-over powerplay.

Kamran Akmal holed out to Luke Wright at deep mid-wicket before opener Salman Butt exited for 28.

Pace bowler Broad led England’s attack with three for 17 from three overs.

At the 10-over half-way stage Pakistan were well behind the required run-rate at 63 for three.

And by the time the hard-hitting Shahid Afridi reached the crease they were 87 for four in the 13th over.

Afridi could only manage five before he skied off-spinner Graeme Swann to substitute fielder and former Irish cricketing star Eoin Morgan in the deep.

Pakistan’s innings petered out as they finished on 137 for seven with captain Younis Khan stranded on 46 not out.

Earlier, South Africa born shotmaker Pietersen faced 38 balls with three sixes and five fours before he was caught at short third man by Umar Gul off Saeed Ajmal.

Spin bowler Ajmal had dropped a caught and bowled chance when Pietersen was on 30.

Pakistan made an early breakthrough after Younis won the toss.

Teenager Mohammad Aamir, a left-arm quick like his boyhood hero Wasim Akram, marked his international debut by removing Ravi Bopara but it needed a superb catch at backward point by Shoaib Malik to leave England nine for one.

Opener Luke Wright, who struck England’s first six of the tournament, a pull off the 17-year-old Aamir, kept the run-rate high in the overcast conditions by striking five fours in as many balls faced.

But a stand of 53 was ended when Umar Gul yorked Wright for 34.

source – indiatimes.com

Commentary
That is all from the Oval here. Tomorrow is another scary day as two teams face the same scare that England and Scotland faced today. Bangladesh take on Ireland in the first game and Bangladesh need to win that one or else they are knocked out. Same with Australia who need to beat Sri Lanka to stay on in the tournament. Till tomorrow, it is good bye and good night from me Nishant Majithia. Sleep well…
PRESENTATIION:
Luke Wright: The way we performed today was exceptional. It was a tough day on Saturday, we took a few things to notice, and I think we came out very well tonight. The guys really did very well and we are happy to have won big here.
Luke Wright is the Man of the Match
Paul Collingwood: The way the boys came out and batted was commendable. We really did well. Today, we came out very strongly. (On Mascarenhas opening the bowling) we will see how the conditions go through the tournament and then decide how to go about giving him the new ball.
Younis Khan: I think chasing 185 is always difficult and we lost early wickets. We dropped too many catches and we need to work on our fielding a lot. We are looking to do well against Netherlands as we need to win well against them to have a good net run rate.
That was a lousy effort from Pakistan to say the least. Pakistan gave away far too many runs due to some misfields and the dropped chances didn’t help either. When they came out to bat, they had no plans at all and it all went haywire. They never really got going and that has cost them big here. They have a very bad net run rate and now they have to beat Netherlands by a big margin to ensure a place in the next round. Stay tuned for the presentation.
England win by 48 runs and stay in this tournament
19.6 Anderson to Gul, 2 runs, fuller length delivery on the middle and leg, Gul flicks it away to mid wicket, that is all over
19.5 Anderson to Gul, 2 runs, fuller length delivery on the stumps, Gul comes on the frontfoot and chips it to long off
19.4 Anderson to Gul, no run, short of length delivery on the stumps, Gul ducks under it
19.3 Anderson to Gul, no run, slower delivery outside off again, Gul looks to cut it away, misses
19.2 Anderson to Gul, no run, slower delivery outside off, Gul looks to go over mid wicket, misses
19.1 Anderson to Gul, FOUR!!, fuller length delivery on the off, Gul comes on the frontfoot and hammers it between extra cover and long off, the fielder fails to get behind it!
Anderson to bowl the last over
Umar Gul, right handed bat, comes to the crease
Broad to Arafat, out Caught by Wright at long off!! Arafat goes down the ground again but goes aerial this time, the fielder runs in and pouches that, that is a good running catch from Wright. Arafat c Wright b Broad 4(6)
18.6 Broad to Arafat, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
18.5 Broad to Arafat, 2 runs, on the stumps, Arafat hammers it straight down the ground, great effort by the fielder there, saves a couple
18.4 Broad to Arafat, no run, fuller length delivery outside the off stump, Arafat backs off but doesn’t offer a shot
18.3 Broad to Younis Khan, 1 run, full toss on the off from round the wicket, Younis Khan shuffles across and flicks it away to deep mid wicket
Looks like Arafat has pulled a muscle, a runner is coming in. Ahmed Shahzad will run for Arafat
18.2 Broad to Arafat, 1 run, outside the off stump, Arafat opens the face of the bat and runs it down to third man
18.1 Broad to Arafat, no run, good length delivery on the off, Arafat pushes it to cover, straight to the fielder
Stuart Broad [2.0-0-13-2] will bowl the penultimate over
17.6 Anderson to Younis Khan, FOUR!!, fuller length delivery outside the off stump, Younis Khan comes on the frontfoot and drives it to deep extra cover, beautiful placement and he gets a boundary!
17.5 Anderson to Younis Khan, no run, slower delivery bowled short, Younis Khan looks to pull, under edges it onto the ground
17.4 Anderson to Arafat, 1 run, angling into the right hander, Arafat defends it on the off and they take a quick single
Right then, Arafat has a strike rate of 184 which is pretty good but unfortunately, Pakistan need a strike rate of more than 400 to win the game from here
17.3 Anderson to Younis Khan, 1 run, fuller length delivery on the off, Younis Khan comes on the frontfoot and drives it to long off
17.2 Anderson to Younis Khan, 2 runs, slower delivery on the stumps, Younis Khan comes on the frontfoot and chips it over the bowler’s head for a couple
Yasir Arafat, right handed bat, comes to the crease
Anderson to Misbah Ul-Haq, out Caught by (sub)Morgan at long on!! Misbah Ul-Haq looks to get underneath a full delivery on the middle and leg and send it over long on, it is the long boundary there and Morgan makes no mistake again. Misbah Ul-Haq c (sub)Morgan b Anderson 10(8) [6s-1]
17.1 Anderson to Misbah Ul-Haq, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
James Anderson [2.0-0-14-0] is back into the attack
16.6 Wright to Misbah Ul-Haq, 1 run, yorker length delivery on the stumps, Misbah Ul-Haq digs it out for a quick single
16.5 Wright to Misbah Ul-Haq, no run, catch dropped!! on the off, Misbah Ul-Haq looks to go for it again, leading edge goes straight to Bopara at point, he puts it down, gestures towards the lights, Bumble says, “We don’t believe you”
16.4 Wright to Misbah Ul-Haq, SIX!!, full and Misbah Ul-Haq gets well underneath it, heaves it over mid wicket and it goes all the way, a straight batted shot, what power!
16.3 Wright to Younis Khan, 1 run, fuller length delivery on the off, Younis Khan comes on the frontfoot and drives it to cover
16.2 Wright to Misbah Ul-Haq, 1 run, good length delivery on the middle and leg, Misbah Ul-Haq turns it to square leg for a quick single
16.1 Wright to Misbah Ul-Haq, no run, fuller length delivery on the stumps, Misbah Ul-Haq comes on the frontfoot and defends it
15.6 Swann to Misbah Ul-Haq, 1 run, short of length delivery on the middle and leg, Misbah Ul-Haq goes on the backfoot and pulls it away to deep mid wicket, Wasim Akram says, good over so far, perhaps forgetting that it was the last ball
15.5 Swann to Younis Khan, 1 run, flighted delivery on the stumps, Younis Khan kneels down and slog sweeps it to deep mid wicket
15.4 Swann to Younis Khan, 2 runs, Younis Khan comes down the track and clips it it to mid wicket, fallas in the gap but doesn’t quite reach the fence