Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature 18th over: Pakistan 141-5 (Iftikhar 14, Khushdil 2) Wood takes the wicket and makes it miserable for his captain too. Just four runs from it. Pakistan have slowed right after being in a flurry of strokes at the top.
WIRELESS! Nawaz b Wood 4 (Pakistan 137-5)
A first T20I wicket for Luke Wood and an emphatic one! A quicker ball goes past Nawaz’s long drive and onto the stumps – sending the wood into wheels! The debutant leaps into the air and is mobbed by his teammates. Nice moment. 17th over: Pakistan 137-4 (Iftikhar 12, Nawaz 4) Iftikhar beats David Willey for SIX! This helps the execution rate. A long over as Willey sprays a couple of wides and Pakistan spin. 12 runs from this over. Three to go. Updated at 16.58 BST 16th over: Pakistan 125-4 (Iftikhar 4, Nawaz 2) Mohammad Nawaz is the new fighter for Pakistan. Rashid restricts the home side to five runs from the over and completes the four-over set with 2-27. Tidy. Updated at 16.58 BST
WIRELESS! Masood c Gleeson b Rashid
A tame reverse sweep from Masood comes straight to Gleeson on ’45. Pakistani wickets keep falling.
WIRELESS! Rizwan st Salt b Ali 68 (Pakistan 117-3)
Rizwan is gone! Moeen saw him move up the track and bowled the ball shorter. The captain played his cards too early and is left reeling. Salt that erases from warranties fast smart. Pakistan are stuttering here and they have lost their ‘inside’. Iftikhar Ahmed is the new player and he has almost missed the lead from his first ball! Slightly noisy cricket around the world. Spin making things happen more than sticking to this surface, Pakistan will have counted. Rizwan reacts after losing his wicket. Photo: Anjum Naveed/AP 15th over: Pakistan 120-3 (Masood 1, Iftikhar 1) Updated 17.01 BST 14th over: Pakistan 110-2 (Rizwan 66, Masood 1) Shan Masood comes to the crease on debut. Blocks his first two balls before getting out of point with a single through the covers. It’s a trade opener, it will be interesting to see how it goes with Pakistan expected from the start to put the pedal to the metal. Six overs to go.
WIRELESS! Haider Ali c Willey b S Curran 11 (Pakistan 109-2)
As you might have guessed from the heavily loaded lack… England have another wicket. Hyder Ali hits the grape high in the Karachi night but it doesn’t go far enough, Willie takes a safe catch on the edge of the boundary. England get back into it in the last two overs. 13th over: Pakistan 107-1 (Rizwan 65, Ali 10) Willey comes back and tightens things up a bit, just three runs from the over – a cunning mix of slower balls and yorkers that do the job. Pressure will lead to error… 12th over: Pakistan 104-1 (Rizwan 64, Ali 8) Rizwan falls to his feet and smacks Rashid over mid-wicket for a SIX! Looking for a big score here. 11 runs from the over. Pakistan start just under nine and they have a big engine room sitting idle in the dugout. They will want almost 200 in this surface and with this platform. 11th over: Pakistan 93-1 (Rizwan 56, Ali 5) More singles than a break 18-30 at Kavos. So six. Richard Gleeson returns and holds a lid for things with a barcode on it. Updated at 16.27 BST 10th over: Pakistan 87-1 (Rizwan 53, Ali 2) Haider Ali the new batsman and Rashid is in full swing after this golden dismissal. Ali clips for two but England are done – just four runs and a wicket away. We’re halfway there, time for a drink. Rizwan celebrates by scoring a half century. Photo: Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images Updated at 16.58 BST
WIRELESS! Babar b Rashid 31 (Pakistan 85-1)
He whacked him with a googly! Rashid hits Babbar with a covered error, the ball spins through bat and pad and onto the stumps. England needed it, Pakistan lose their first over. Rashid celebrates the dismissal of Pakistan captain Babar Photo: Anjum Naveed/AP Updated at 16.27 BST 9th over: Pakistan 83-0 (Rizwan 42, Babar 27) Spin from both ends as Ali steps forward. Five runs off the first four deliveries as the batsmen push and go into the gaps… that’s a massive SIX though! Rizwan hops and skips the wicket and sends a length ball over long on for the first maximum of the series. Two more from the last ball make it 13 from the over. 8th over: Pakistan 70-0 (Rizwan 42, Babar 27) Moeen turns to spin and the best of the mucka – Adil Rashid. A mix of flat slippery deliveries and slower tempts from Rashid as he tries to find the best pace to bowl on this glassy surface. No boundaries but Rizwan and Babar are experts at finding the gaps, seven runs easily collected from the over. 7th over: Pakistan 63-0 (Rizwan 38, Babar 25) Sam Curran comes in and looks to be an easy pick for Pakistan. A short ball is drifted dismissively by Rizwan to the fine leg fence and a full ball that comes around the stumps is driven hard behind the bowler for four more. 12 runs conceded from the over and not a sniff for England. 6th over: Pakistan 51-0 (Rizwan 28, Babar 23) Catch this! Rizwan takes a few steps down the track and rocks Luke Wood straight for four! This was a throwaway shot, Rizwan and Babar lining up the England bowlers and looking very comfortable*. A quick match brings up the fifty partnership for Pakistan. England need a breakthrough or it could be twenty overs. (*trying pranksters?) 5th over: Pakistan 43-0 (Rizwan 21, Babar 22) Ali continues to rotate his bowlers. Richard Gleeson is briefly called on by the right-armer and gets away with three singles, but then oversteps and is cut nonchalantly on the boundary by Rizwan. Pakistan very much on the attack, England’s attack looked a bit samey and with pace in these early stages. Pakistan captain Azam and Rizwan running Photo: Anjum Naveed/AP Updated at 16.01 BST 4th over: Pakistan 36-0 (Rizwan 13, Babar 19) Debutant Luke Wood is called early by Moeen Ali. Wood is the third of England’s trio of southpaw seamers in this game and bowls a neat over, just four singles from it. 3rd over: Pakistan 32-0 (Rizwan 13, Babar 19) Beautiful knock from Rizwan who plunders back to back fours from Willey. A clipped shot followed by a neat leg flick. “All you can do…” Babar then plays the best of the game, a back foot drive that whistles away into the gap. Sublime. 2nd over: Pakistan 15-0 (Rizwan 4, Babar 11) Sam Curran, complete with peroxide frozen noses, takes the new ball from the other end. Starts off with three dots, but then goes short and Babar hits it and goes back to the nice leg fence for four. The outfield also looks fast. This could be a running fest. Gulp. 1st over: Pakistan 9-0 (Rizwan 3, Babar 6) David Willey delivers the first ball of the match and a little piece of cricket history. Rizwan is straight away with a push through the covers. The crowd is cheering enthusiastically the whole time, it’s great to hear. What an atmosphere! The crowd goes wild as Babar drives Willey away for the first boundary of the game, a neat clip from his toes to the fence. Sharp run from this opening pair and it’s nine runs from the first over. The field has a glow like this famous image of Sabina Park by Patrick Eagar. I’m far away in sunny South London, but it looks better from here. Updated at 15:40 BST The teams are outside and lining up for the anthems. David Gower’s vulgar tones can be heard on the TV commentary. Moeen commands his men, defines his field. Rizwan and Babar walk up to the crease – the wicket is the color of malted milk and looks hard. David Willey has the new ball in his left glove. The crowd is ready for it, and so am I! Let’s play! Moeen Ali leads England out. Photo: Alex Davidson/Getty Images Updated at 15.56 BST Alex Hales has spoken to Sky Sports: The Honorable Andy Bull is our man on the ground in Karachi, his evocative piece from the polo field is worth your time. Team’s: Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Haider Ali, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Usman Qadir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani Shan Masood (of Derbyshire) makes his debut and Rizwan rests… from his rest – plays. England: Phil Salt (wk), Alex Hales, David Malan, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Moeen Alli (c), Sam Curran, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood, Richard Gleeson Luke Wood is introduced in Jos Buttler’s debut cap. It’s a new England look – Hales, Duckett, Wood. Updated at 15.27 BST
England win the toss and will bowl first
Moeen Ali calls right under the lights of Karachi. He speaks immediately afterwards about the significance of the occasion: “It’s huge for us and huge for Pakistan. I haven’t been to Pakistan much in my life so to represent England as captain here is amazing.” Moeen also confirms that Alex Hales will play. “Alex Hales is coming in after three years, which is amazing for him.” Confirmed groups and comments from Babar in a second. England’s Moeen Ali and Pakistan’s Babar Azam are seen in the toss. Photo: Alex Davidson/Getty Images Updated at 15.42 BST
Preamble
December 21, 2005. England’s weary cricketers run off the pitch under the foggy haze of Rawalpindi’s floodlights. A consolation ODI win was chalked up thanks to a match winning 4-48 by a 23-year-old slip bowler called James Anderson. As the players escape the chill and thoughts turn to flying home for Christmas, none of them knew they would be the last England men’s cricket team to play in Pakistan for nearly two decades. Today, England returns, belatedly, after seventeen long years. James Anderson is, inevitably, the only player in this series who is still making his change and hasn’t sent an international white ball in anger since…
