1st over: England 3-0 (Salt 2, Hales 1) Hasnain on the pads first up, and Salt’s flick to fine leg gives him one. Some lovely shape away from the right-hander to Hales next ball, who gets off the mark with his second. Solid start from the 22-year-old, Pakistan’s only change from the other night.
Right then, we’re about to get started. David Gower’s on comms, Mohammad Hasnain’s got the ball and Phil Salt’s on strike. Let’s play.
A lovely welcome from John Starbuck: “Just a line to say welcome to the wonderful world of the OBO, where all opinions may be entertained from across the world.” Thanks for having me!
Elsewhere, Surrey have won the County Championship! Rory Burns smashed 30* off 16 balls (!) to get his side over the line in a chase of 55 against Yorkshire at The Oval. Tanya Aldred’s there taking it all in.
Teams:
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Haider Ali, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Usman Qadir, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Shahnawaz Dahani
England: Phil Salt (wk), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali (c), Sam Curran, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Liam Dawson, Luke Wood
Table of Contents
England have won the toss and will bat first
Moeen wins the toss again – but England are having a bat first tonight. One change: out goes the pace of Richard Gleeson, in comes the left-arm tweak of Liam Dawson.
Just the one change for Pakistan as well: Naseem Shah is replaced by the also very fast Mohammad Hasnain.
Preamble
Hello, hello, hello. We’re back in Karachi for the second of seven – seven – T20Is between England and Pakistan.
A new-look England put up a thoroughly professional performance on Tuesday: debutant Luke Wood looked the part, bowling briskly to take 3-24, while Alex Hales marked his return from three years in exile with a half-century. Harry Brook played the best knock of his international career so far, smashing 42* off 25 in a comfortable six-wicket win. Pakistan, on the other hand, had little to smile about beyond a sparky 85-run stand between their two men up top, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
But it was also one of those nights where the game was secondary. England were back playing in Pakistan for the first time since 2005. The gradual return of international cricket to these shores means a great deal to the people of this cricket-loving nation, and so there was much to celebrate during the series opener even if the hosts were below par. “Karachi put on a show tonight,” said Hales afterwards.
And now the fun continues at the NSK; expect another electric atmosphere. I’ll be back in a bit with the toss and the teams. It’s also my OBO debut so go easy on me, folks (someone sort out my cap presentation please). Slide into my DMs at @tahahash or drop me a line at [email protected].