Pakistan blunders help England win

Pakistan's poor fielding has again cost them as England secured a five-wicket victory in the first Twenty20 International in Cardiff.

Despite a disappointing performance with the bat, Pakistan looked on track for a win after reducing England to 5-62 as they chased 127.

But two dropped catches - one from controversial paceman Shoaib Akhtar and one from under-fire keeper Kamran Akmal - turned the match as Eoin Morgan and Michael Yardy made the visitors pay with a 67-run partnership to lead England to victory.

It was a position Pakistan was lucky to be in in the first place after struggling to a total of 4-126 from its 20 overs with the bat.

Kamran Akmal went cheaply in the first over, but Mohammad Yousuf arrived and hit consecutive boundaries off Stuart Broad as he attempted to break the shackles in what was just his second international Twenty20 match.

But when spinner Graeme Swann snared him for 26 and had Shahzaib Hasan stumped two overs later, Pakistan's momentum had dried up.

Fawad Alam could only manage a miserly 20 from 29 deliveries before he was dismissed, while even captain Shahid Afridi was unusually subdued despite benefitting from two fielding blunders from England.

Afridi and Umar Akmal saw out the remaining overs in what was the first time in a Twenty20 match that Pakistan failed to hit a six in its 20 overs.

But it still could have ended well for Pakistan after Akhtar and Afridi snared two wickets each to rip through England's top order.

When Luke Wright fell for a duck the score was 5-62. But Morgan and Yardy went on with the job after both were dropped, making 38 and 35 respectively as England reached the target in the 18th over.