Hales and Wood star as England win T20 opener on first Pakistan tour in 17 years
Karachi: A new-look England side took the opening Twenty20 international by six wickets in Karachi on Tuesday, caping their return to Pakistan ater 17 years in a memorable way.
Opener Alex Hales hit a 40-ball 53 -- his first international ater a three-year absence on a failed recreational drug test — to anchor England’s chase of a modest 159-run target in 19.2 overs.
Pakistan opener Mohammad Rizwan scored 46-ball 68 to help Pakistan to 158-7 in their 20 overs ater England sent them in to bat at a capacity National stadium.
The win gives England a 1-0 lead in the sevenmatch series.
Pakistan’s players wore a special kit in the game on which their names and numbers are shown submerged in water, to show solidarity with victims of the floods in the country.
England’s players wore black armbands as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II who died earlier this month.
Hales smashed seven boundaries and added 55 for the fourth wicket with Harry Brook who finished with 42 not out.
Hales has admited he thought his chances of playing for England again may have gone during his three-year exile, but a loss of form for Jason Roy and a serious leg injury to Jonny Bairstow has presentedthe33-year-oldwithanotheropportunity.
Brook, one of seven England players to feature in this year’s Pakistan Super League, cracked seven boundaries in a robust 25-ball knock.
It had been 1291 days since Hales last bated in an England shirt, and plenty of water has flowed under the bridge in the intervening period. Plenty of runs have flowed from Hales’ bat, too, and he continued that prolific form in the shortest format with his first T20I fity since July 2018.
Ben Ducket (21), Dawid Malan (20) and Phil Salt (ten) were other England contributors. Pakistan’sinningswasonceagainheldbyrizwan. Rizwan, top run-geter in the Asia Cup earlier this month with 281, knocked six boundaries and two sixes and put on 85 for the first wicket with skipper Babar Azam (31) ater England won the toss and fielded.
Itikhar Ahmed hit three sixes in his 17-ball 28 but Pakistan managed just 71 runs in the last ten overs, losing six wickets.
Debutant Shan Masood failed with just seven runs while Haider Ali scored eleven.
England debut ant pace man luke wood finished* with 3-24, while spinner Adil Rashid took 2-27.
The victory gives England an early advantage in the seven-match series, as they seek to find form ahead of the start of the T20 World Cup in Australia next month.
Moeen Ali captained England in the absence of Jos Butler, who is expected to return from a calf injury later in the series, with several other notable names, including Test captain Ben Stokes, let at home to rest ahead of the World Cup.
“A brilliant performance overall. We pulled it back well in the middle overs and at the death with the ball. Credit to our bowlers, they set it up for the baters,” said Ali.
“Luke Wood got crucial wickets for us. He was outstanding on his debut, stuck his chest out and bowled well along with Adil Rashid. It wasn’t easy for the baters coming in.
“We were smart with how we chased it down. Alex Hales showed how good he is, having come back in ater a long time. Harry Brook showed a lot of confidence and that looks great for the future.”
Pakistan captain Azam said: “How Rizwan and I played in the powerplay was very good. We stuck to the plan and aterwards England bowled well. There could have been a beter partnership.
“England planned well and started the bowling off with some pace so we need to give them credit for that, but also our batsmen need to step up.”
The remaining matches are in Karachi (September 22, 23, 25) and in Lahore (September 28, 30 and October 2).
The match was England’s first in the country for 6,118 days, since a Test and one-day international tour in December 2005. No countries toured Pakistan between 2009 and 2015 ater an atack by gunmen on the Sri Lanka team bus in 2009, with sides returning sporadically since then.