Nawaz b Wood 4 Quick! Full, 87mph and a good length, it whistles through the gate, knocks back off and middle and silences the crowd again.
Rizwan gets back on to the dance floor, striding down and dumping a drive into the crowd at long on for the first six of the match. Wood dares to bowl fuller than Curran and Willey and gets his reward with a dot ball and three singles before rapping Rizwan on the knee. The new ball flies off the bat bit after a few overs, taking the pace off makes the batsmen do all the work and that is something Pakistan have been unable to do. Duckett gets off the mark with a single off a wide on, tapped to cover but is later beaten by the googly and then tickles a reverse sweep for a single Two successive wides mean he can't get out of the over as he wished but he finally delivers a legit sixth delivery and Nawaz bunts it down the ground for a single. After Rizwan is stumped, Salt whips off the bails when Iftikhar has a swing and a miss at a wide. But he is pretty good with the orthodox sweep, too, nailing both for a single and a two. Dahani hurls a throw at the stumps, foolishly and futilely given he was in his ground and he is given a Paddington stare when the ball shoots away for an overthrow. Hales chisels out a yorker for a single and Brook ends the over with the shot of the match, a lofted drive over mid-off for four, elbow high, bat perfectly through the line. Nawaz rushed his throw at the stumps when he had time to make a better platform of his feet and take proper aim. England had a wobble as Ben Duckett and Dawid Malan struggled with the pace of the pitch and fell just as they started to look good. He was sharp on debut, bowling at a good pace and with decent variations for three for 24 from four well crafted overs, justifying his call up after a good Hundred for the Trent Rockets.
Alex Hales returns for England after three years out; Pakistan stick with Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan as openers.
The only new cap was Wood, an unused member of the ODI squad in the Netherlands earlier this year. England selected a much-changed side, with Hales back, Salt opening for the first time and Duckett playing his second T20I three years on from the first. Usually charged with the new ball in search of early swing, Wood was instead first change, but conceded just 12 runs from his two overs in the powerplay. Babar made 68 runs in six innings at the Asia Cup and, while he clearly needed time in the middle in search of some form, there had been a suggestion that Rizwan would be rested, allowing Masood to bat in his preferred position at opener and Mohammad Haris to take the gloves. 4, top-edged a reverse-sweep to the edge of the ring for 7 off seven balls, Pakistan had lost 4 for 35 off 35 balls. Hales only managed one boundary with the field out between the seventh and 14th overs, and on 28 from 22 he was dropped in the deep by Shan Masood looking to manufacture a slog-sweep off Qadir. Rizwan continued his good form from the Asia Cup, top-scoring with 68 from 46, but the middle and lower order failed to fire, Iftikhar Ahmed's three sixes in 28 from 17 providing only a flicker of the aggression needed on a placid batting surface, as England debutant [Luke Wood](http://www.espncricinfo.com/player/luke-wood-573170)finished with 3 for 24. Whether that is an ideal distribution of resources is a debate that will continue to rage. His second legitimate delivery was clattered through backward point in trademark, long-levered style and, although he was not at his most fluent, there was plenty of ringcraft about Hales' innings as he anchored the chase. First Babar was unstitched by Adil Rashid's googly, ending the partnership at 85 in the tenth over. Hales fell for 53 off 40 with 17 needed but an unbeaten 42 from [Harry Brook](http://www.espncricinfo.com/player/harry-brook-911707), in his fifth T20I, saw England home with four balls to spare. In response, Hales was the glue that held England's chase together.
Pakistan vs England Live Score Updates: England's first tour to Pakistan since 2005 starts in Karachi.
Debutant left-arm fast bowler Luke Wood grabbed 3-24 to help limit Pakistan to 158-7 after captain [Moeen Ali](https://indianexpress.com/about/moeen-ali/) won the toss in his country of roots and elected to field. [England](https://indianexpress.com/article/world/uk-coronavirus-tracker-region-wise-cases-and-deaths-6373786/) 1st T20 Match Highlights: England made a triumphant return to Pakistan after 17 years with a six-wicket win in the first Twenty20 on Tuesday. Pakistan couldn’t capitalize on Mohammad Rizwan (68) and captain Babar Azam’s (31) aggressive opening stand of 85 off 57 balls before the middle-order capitulated against Wood in the death overs.
Over-by-over report: England begin this seven-match series in Karachi, their first game in Pakistan since 2005. Join James Wallace.
The crowd go into raptures as Babar whips Willey away for the first boundary of the game, a neat clip off his toes traces to the fence. The teams are out and lined up for the anthems. 12 runs conceded from the over and not a single sniff for England. Rashid limits the home side to five runs from the over and finishes his set of four overs with 2-27. 18th over: Pakistan 141-5 (Iftikhar 14, Khushdil 2) Wood gets the wicket and bowls a miserly over for his captain too. Salt plops a 141kph ball from Dahani over mid off for four and clearly fancies a piece of the pace bowler. 5th over: England 43-1 (Hales 16, Malan 12) Good over for England, Malan uses the pace Dahani to dab a back of a length ball away past Rizwan for four. it is a painful over for Phil Salt as he struggles to get the spinner away, facing four dots before managing to get off strike with a single. Four singles follow but a decent finish to over for England, Duckett getting his sweep on, picking up two with a conventional and four over the keeper with a top-edged reverse. Malan slams a full toss from Qadir for SIX but has to go next ball, chipping a length ball back to the bowler who clings on to the return catch. Harry Brook shows more class and a deft touch, using the pace of the ball from Rauf and angling it down through third for four. Got to give a lot of praise to the bowlers who set it up nicely for our batters.
England vs Pakistan T20 LIVE: Cricket score and updates from National Stadium Karachi.
England move 1-0 up in the seven game series. Harry Brook showed a lot of confidence and that looks great for the future.” The opener cracked 53 in 40 balls on his first England outing since March 2019, when he was jettisoned in the aftermath of a failed recreational drugs test, and marked the end of his spell in the wilderness by leading the way in a six-wicket success. England had earlier done well to restrict the hosts to 158 for seven in front of a sell-out 35,000 crowd at Karachi’s National Stadium, with debutant Luke Wood claiming an impressive three for 24. Just six more runs needed to win. It wasn’t easy for the batters coming in. [Terms of use,](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/user-policies-a6184151.html) [Cookie policy](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/cookie-policy-a6184186.html) and [Privacy notice.](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/privacy-policy-a6184181.html) “Luke Wood got crucial wickets for us. “A brilliant performance overall. England win by 6 wickets! [Alex Hales](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/alex-hales) celebrated the end of his international exile with a crucial half-century as England’s first match in [Pakistan](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/pakistan) for almost 17 years ended with victory in the first Twenty20. [Alex Hales](/topic/alex-hales) celebrated the end of his international exile with a crucial half-century as [England](/topic/england-cricket-team)’s first match in [Pakistan](/topic/pakistan) for almost 17 years ended with victory in the first Twenty20.
Debutant Luke Wood also claimed 3-24 as England took a 1-0 lead in the seven-match T20 series in Pakistan, which will serve as a build-up for the T20 World ...
Our batters need to step up." A lot of praise to the bowlers who set it up nicely for our batters. It wasn't an easy wicket for the new batters.
Pakistan vs England Live Score: England skipper Moeen Ali won the toss and opted to field against Pakistan in Karachi. Stay updated with Times of India to ...
Naseem Shah to Moeen Ali, A dot to end the over! Harry Brook leans back and tries to play the ramp shot but misses. Harry Brook waits for it, opens the face late and steers it down to third man for four. Naseem Shah to Harry Brook, Second dot of the over! Shahnawaz Dahani to Harry Brook, A dot to start with! Mentions the conditions were a lot different from England but they managed to pull it back in the end. Ali yet again looks to heave it across the line but only connects with thin air. He says that he and Rizwan stuck to the plan and built a solid foundation up top. Brook drives it through covers for a boundary. It were the spinners for England who applied the breaks really well in the first innings. Mentions the batters though need to step-up and hopefully, they can improve in the next match. Pakistan will be eager to make a solid comeback and not let the visitors extend their lead.