Alex Hales registered a half-century on his much awaited return (PC: Twitter)
England secured a six-wicket victory over Pakistan in the first fixture of the seven-match T20I series on Tuesday (20 September) at National Stadium, Karachi.
Mohammad Rizwan (PC: Twitter)
Invited to bat first, Pakistan were off to a superb start under the presence of their key players Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. The duo added 85 runs for the first wicket, before Babar was cleaned up by Adil Rashid for 31 off 24.
Rizwan completed his 17th T20I fifty, and then perished for a well-compiled 68 off 46 balls, laced with six fours and two sixes. Then, the debutant Luke Wood ran down Pakistan's middle-order to take three wickets.
In the end, Iftikhar Ahmed delivered three lusty blows to contribute 28 off 17, which propelled hosts to a total of 158 on the board. The Men in Green certainly fell short after they could score only 71 runs in the last 10 overs.
Alex Hales and Harry Brook added 55 runs for the fourth wicket (PC: Twitter)
In response to the chase, England lost the wicket of Phil Salt (10) early, courtesy of a sensational catch from Haider Ali at the deep square-leg region.
However, Alex Hales and Dawid Malan resurrected the team's innings with their positive mindset. However, the talented spinner Usman Qadir dismissed Malan (20) in the seventh over to put the visitors in check.
Duckett was clinical to steer the team at a brisk rate along with Hales, but Qadir soon dismissed him for 21 during a reverse-sweep attempt. Then, Harry Brook was clever to churn out boundaries consistently, and keeping the team in good stead.
Hales hit his ninth T20I fifty to nearly pull off the chase, before getting dismissed for 53 off 40. In the end, Brook remained unbeaten on 42 off 25 and sealed the game with four balls to spare.
Pakistan: 158/7 (20)
Mohammad Rizwan 68 (46), Iftikhar Ahmed 28 (17);
Luke Wood 3/24, Adil Rashid 2/27
England: 160/4 (19.2)
Alex Hales 53 (40), Harry Brook 42* (25);
Usman Qadir 2/36, Haris Rauf 1/23
Result: England won by 6 wkts
Read more: Imperious Australia thrash listless India by 4 wickets in a high-scoring affair
 "Tejas Rathi")
