Chris Woakes tells reason behind defeat in 5th T20I against Pakistan

We still feel we can go on to win this series, says Chris Woakes
He says we have to win next two to win the series. 
Chris Woakes praises Pakistani debutant Aamir Jamal's bowling
Karachi: England’s Chris Woakes feels that losing wickets consistently throughout the innings while  schasing 146 against Pakisttan 5th T20I kept England behind the target.

England could score 139/7 in reply to Pakistan’s score 145 in Lahore on Wednesday. The win has given Pakistan a lead of 3-2 in 7 games T20I series against England.

But, despite the deficit, Woakes feels that England can still win the series.

“We still feel we can go on to win this series. There's been some very tight games, this one was tight, the last one was tight, the scoreline could be very different but we are where we are three-two,” he told Geo in an exclusive interview after the game.

“We have to win the next two to win the series and that's what we will look to do when we turn up on Friday and try and get the series level,” he aimed.

Talking about Wednesday’s game, the 33-year-old England cricketer he feels that England did well to restrict Pakistan and the target could’ve been chased but losing wickets consistently cost England the match.

“I think losing wickets consistently throughout the innings probably is what costs us. It wasn't a great wicket to bat on, the score is probably was about par on that surface, we felt that we restricted them to a decent total which we could go and chase. But when you're consistently losing wickets throughout the innings, it's always tricky to get to the total. Moeen got us close but just not quite close enough,” he explained when asked about where he felt England fell short.

“We needed Moeen to go in and do it all the way through right to the end, when I was out there particularly at the start, it was very difficult for guys to start batting out there, it wasn't easy to get going. But once you faced about 15 balls, you got the use of the wicket and obviously once Moeen got into that, he started hitting sixes and hitting boundaries and was really getting on top of the bowlers, we wanted to build partnership around him,” he added.

He, however, praised Pakistani debutant Aamir Jamal who defended 15 in the last over, conceded only 9.

The England cricketer  said that Aamir bowled very well in the pressure situation against Moeen Ali.

“When you're defending a total particularly those many runs in the last over, it's never easy. So, full credit to him bowling to Moeen Ali who was on form as well,” he said.

Talking about his comeback, Chris Woakes said tat he was delighted to be back playing for England after six months.

“I'd have liked maybe to bat a little bit better at the end there. But you know, that's just the way the game goes. And hopefully, with a few more games under my belt, I'll get better from there,” he said.

Chris Woakes termed the 7-match series against Pakistan a good opportunity for his side to prepare for the T20 World Cup which is scheduled to be played in Australia next month.

“Obviously the conditions will be very different and you may want to go with a slightly different combination. But I think the good thing about this series is it gets the very good side in Pakistan, the competitive side obviously. And, there's no better preparation than playing competitive cricket against good teams. So, we all see it as good preparation,” he said when asked about how he sees this 7 match series against Pakistan.