This game is Emerald Headingley’s first-ever International Twenty20 game. England have played in a total of exactly 50 such matches on home soil but this is the first time that the Leeds ground has been involved in the schedule. In the absence of previous examples, therefore, Paul Dyson looks back at a couple of games between these two countries in which Yorkshire players played starring roles.
September 7, 2010 at Cardiff: Pakistan 89 in 18.4 overs (TT Bresnan 3-10); England 90-4 in 14 overs. England won by six wickets.
This was the second of the only two games played in this format on Pakistan’s 2010 tour, both being at Cardiff. England had won the first by five wickets just two days earlier and with that game being on a Sunday there were about 5,000 fewer spectators for this match. In addition, the last part of Pakistan’s tour had been mired in controversy with spot-fixing in the Test at Lord’s and it had been rumoured that these T20I fixtures would be cancelled. In the event the ECB refunded Glamorgan CCC 50% of its staging fee.
The weather was dull and the cricket matched it. Shahid Afridi won the toss for Pakistan but soon saw his side slip to 22 for four by the end of the fifth over. His had been the fourth wicket to fall and there were two wickets each for the opening bowlers of Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad. Wickets continued to fall regularly throughout the innings and the only stand of note was one of 29 for the eighth wicket between Abdul Razzaq and Umar Gul. Ryan Sidebottom dismissed both batsmen with consecutive balls as the last three wickets fell for a mere four runs and the visitors were all out for 89 with eight balls unused. Graeme Swann also took two wickets and the most economical bowling came from Mike Yardy whose left-arm spin cost only ten runs from his four overs. This was the most economical bowling for England at the time against any opponent and Bresnan’s final figures of three for 10 remain the record for his country against these opponents.
