Pakistan v England: Alex Hales hits maiden ODI ton in tourists' win

                                 Alex Hales hit his first century in his 22nd ODI

Second one-day international, Abu Dhabi
England 283-5 (50 overs): Hales 109, Root 63, Roy 54, Wahab 3-43
Pakistan 188 (45.5 overs): Sarfraz 64, Woakes 4-33, Willey 3-25
England win by 95 runs

Alex Hales struck his maiden ODI century to lead England to a 95-run win over Pakistan in the second ODI, levelling the series at 1-1.

England's total of 283-5 was built on Hales' 109 off 117 balls, supported by Jason Roy (54) and Joe Root (63).

A strong bowling finish raised Pakistan's hopes but they collapsed to 50-5 with the bat.

Chris Woakes took 4-33 and David Willey 3-25 as the hosts were dismissed for 188 in 45.5 overs.

Sarfraz Ahmed hit a battling 64 but could not prevent England's first competitive victory of the tour.

The win keeps alive England's hopes of overall victory in the four-match ODI series, which continues on Tuesday in Sharjah.

 

Hales ends century wait

 

 

England had collapsed to 14-3 in the first ODI, but with Hales and Roy looking assured from the start, a repeat was never on the cards.

The pair showed superb judgment of tempo, moving from 28-0 after seven overs to 100-0 after 17.
Despite their reputation as an aggressive, risk-taking duo, this was Hales and Roy's fifth 50 partnership in 12 innings - making them considerably more secure than England's Test openers, who have managed the feat just once in their last 12 innings.

And with Hales seemingly a strong candidate to join Alastair Cook at the top of the order in the long format when England tour South Africa, it was his ability to build partnerships that will have impressed the England coaching staff.

Once Roy fell trying to hit Wahab Riaz over the top, Hales - playing in his 22nd ODI - put on another 100 partnership with Root.

The Nottinghamshire batsman brought up his ton with a paddle sweep, but was stumped shortly after to give debutant Iftikhar his maiden ODI wicket - and his departure allowed Pakistan to take back a measure of control, restricting England to just 56 in an excellent last 10 overs.

 

 

Woakes and Willey rip through Pakistan

 

But any hopes Pakistan had of carrying that momentum into the early part of their batting innings were undone as Woakes and Willey, who bowled 15.4 wicketless overs between them in the first ODI, destroyed their top order.

Left-armer Willey started the collapse, trapping opener Babar Azam LBW for 4 then having Mohammad Hafeez caught behind for a duck.

Woakes, wicketless in his last previous six ODIs, then took over, dismissing debutant Iftikhar and Shoaib Malik in almost identical fashion - caught at midwicket mistiming a pull.

And when the Warwickshire all-rounder bowled Azhar Ali, Pakistan's hopes of victory were as good as over.

Sarfraz resisted well in a good counter-attacking partnership of 65 with Anwar Ali, but his vigil was eventually ended when Woakes had him caught behind to complete his third-best bowling performance in ODIs.