KARACHI: England on Tuesday defeated Pakistan by six wickets in the first T20I of the seven-match series here at the National Stadium in Karachi.
The Englishmen were playing their first game on the shores of Pakistan in 17 years and they showed a great performance in all the departments. They chased down an easy target in the last over after restricting Pakistan to 158/7.
Earlier, England captain Moeen Ali won the toss and opted to bowl first. No Pakistani batsman could make an impact and wickets kept tumbling one after another after a good start.
Opener Mohammad Rizwan continued his good batting form with an attractive 46-ball 68 while skipper Babar Azam made 24-ball 31.
Iftikhar Ahmed scored 28 off 17 balls while no batters made contributions. Debutant England paceman Luke Wood finished with 3-24, while spinner Adil Rashid took 2-27.
In reply, Alex Hales played a watchful knock on his return to international cricket after three and a half years. The 33-year-old scored 40-ball 53 while Harry Brook made impressive 25-ball 42*.
Usman Qadir was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan, bagging 2-36 while Shahnawaz Dahani and Haris Rauf claimed a wicket each.
Remember, Pakistan’s players were wearing a special kit in today’s game, which shows their names and numbers submerged in water, to show solidarity with victims of the recent devastating floods.
England’s players wore black armbands to tribute Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on September 8.
The remaining matches of the series are in Karachi (September 22, 23 and 25) and in Lahore (September 28, 30 and October 2).
