Pakistan vs England, 1st T20I stat attack: Alex Hales ends long wait, Mohammad Rizwan joins elite list and more

Alex Hales and Harry Brook clinched England’s six-wicket victory in the opening game of the seven-game T20I series against Pakistan at Karachi’s National Stadium on Tuesday.

After England won the toss and chose to roll first, England limited Pakistan to 158/7 from 20 overs. Pakistan might have thought they could have added 15-20 more runs, but wickets at regular intervals spoiled their momentum after a strong start. Skipper Babar Azam (31) and opening partner Mohammad Rizwan (68) got the hosts’ innings off to a fiery start, forging an 85-run streak for the first wicket before Adil Rashid Babar Azam scored in the 10th^th Above.

Debutant Luke Wood impressed with numbers of 3/24 from four overs and played a key role in limiting Pakistan to 158. With the exception of Rizwan, none of Pakistan’s batsmen were able to convert starts into big shots and the next goalscorer after Azam was Iftikhar Ahmed (28 balls from 17).

Pakistan gained momentum early in England’s run-chase, eliminating Phil Salt (10) in the third over and even managing to get rid of Dawid Malan (20) in the seventh over, but Alex Hales (53) and Harry Brook (42*) forged one 55 run record for the fourth wicket that changed the course of the game.

Hales was born in the 17th^th over but substitute skippers Moeen Ali and Brook ensured England crossed the finish line with four deliveries remaining.

With the series now up early 1-0 in England’s favour, let’s take a look at some interesting stats from the game:

• This was England’s first tour to Pakistan in 17 years, most recently in 2005. This was also England’s first T20I victory on Pakistani soil.
• Mohammad Rizwan became by far the fastest man to reach 2000 T20I runs, equaling his national skipper Babar Azam. It took both Rizwan and Babar 52 innings to reach the milestone.
• On Tuesday, 1291 days had passed since Alex Hales last batted in an England shirt. Prior to Tuesday, Hale’s last international for England was on March 10, 2019 in a T20I against the West Indies in the Caribbean.
• This was also Hales’ first T20I fifties in 1538 days, his last in the same international format, played against India on July 6, 2018.
• The first T20I marked England’s first international game on Pakistani soil after 6118 days, having last toured the country with Tests and ODIs in December 2005.
• Pakistan got off to a strong start after being put in the bat, scoring 87 runs for losing just one wicket in the first ten overs but losing six wickets in the next ten while only managing 71 runs in that period .

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