Karachi: Alex Hales hit half-century on return as England hand Pakistan their first-ever T20I defeat at the National Stadium Karachi. Playing their first-ever T20I in Pakistan, the visitors outshined the Men in Green in all departments of the game as they chased the 159-run target in 19.2 overs with six wickets in hand. The right-hander, who hasn’t featured for England in past three years, smashed 53 off 40 balls with the help of seven boundaries.

Though, he was dropped twice by the home side when he was on 22 and 28. Apart from Hales, Ben Duckett and David Malan contributed with 21 and 20 runs respectively. Harry Brook finished that game in style as he played a wonderful cameo of 42 off 25 balls. He struck seven boundaries. For Pakistan, Usman Qadir ended up picking two wickets for 36 runs. Earlier, Mohammad Rizwan hit half-century as Pakistan set 159-run target after losing the toss.

The world number one batter smashed 68 off 46 balls in front of a house full crowd at the National Stadium Karachi. The opening pair of skipper Babar Azam and Rizwan started off magnificently after being put into bat by England’s stand-in captain Moeen Ali. The pair provided 85-run stand of 57 delivers to the Men in Green with Rizwan being the dominant of the two. He contributed 53 while Babar departed after scoring a classy 31. Their stand was broken by Adil Rashid in the 10th over of the game. Babar’s departure not only triggered the collapse of the batting lineup but also stopped the run flow. After scoring run-a-ball 24 for the second wicket, Haider Ali was sent packing by Sam Curran, as Pakistan were reduced to 109-2. He attempted a short-arm jab, but didn’t get the distance. In the next over, set batter Rizwan got stumped as England captain Ali claimed his first wicket of the series.

Debutant Shan Masood only managed to score just seven, while Mohammad Nawaz and Khushdil Shah managed to score just four and five respectively. Iftikhar Ahmed provided finishing touches to the innings as he played a 28-run cameo of 17 balls. He smashed three boundaries in the innings.

Published in The Daily National Courier, September, 21 2022

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