KARACHI: Opener Mohammad Rizwan continued his good batting form with an attractive 46-ball 68 to take Pakistan to 158-7 in the first Twenty20 cricket international against England in Karachi on Tuesday.
Rizwan, top run-getter in the Asia Cup earlier this month with 281, knocked six boundaries and two sixes and put on 85 for the first wicket with skipper Babar Azam (31) after England won the toss and fielded.
England win toss
England won the toss and chose to field in the first T20I match against Pakistan at the National Stadium in Karachi.
After winning the toss, England’s captain and skipper Moeen Ali chose to field first, while Pakistan will be batting with captain Babar Azam and wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan as openers.
England see the return of opener Alex Hales after a three-year absence following a failed recreational drug test in 2019.
Left-arm fast bowler Luke Wood makes his T20I debut for England while batter Shan Masood is playing his first T20I for Pakistan.
The guest team is visiting the country after a 17-year hiatus to play the seven-match series, four of which will be played in Karachi on September 20, 22, 23 and 25, respectively, while three in Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on September 28, 30 and October 2.
Pakistan’s players are wearing a special kit in today’s game, which shows their names and numbers submerged in water, to show solidarity with victims of the devastating floods that hit the country this summer.
England’s players are wearing black armbands as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on September 8.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Haider Ali, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Usman Qadir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani.
England: Phil Salt (wicket-keeper), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett. Harry Brook, Moeen Ali (captain), Sam Curran, David Willey, Luke Wood, Adil Rashid, and Richard Gleeson.
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