England created history on Tuesday by winning the first match in 17 years in Pakistan after they defeated the hosts in the first T20 International of the bilateral series by six wickets. Alex Hales, Harry Brook, Luke Wood and Adil Rashid were stars of the match.
Batting first, Pakistan could only manage 158-7 in 20 overs with Mohammad Rizwan making 68 from 46 balls. Skipper Babar Azam chipped in with 31 from 24 balls.
Two stars of the English bowling attack were Luke Wood and Aadil Rashid, who picked up three and two wickets respectively.
England never looked in trouble when they began their run chase. They achieved the target by losing just four wickets and four balls to spare. Alex Hales was the top scorer for his side with a knock of 53 from 40 balls. Harry Brook remained unbeaten at 42 from 25 balls.
Skipper Moeen Ali, according to the BBC, said, “A brilliant performance overall. We pulled it back well in the middle overs and at the death with the ball. Credit to our bowlers, they set it up for the batters.
“Luke Wood got crucial wickets for us. He was outstanding on his debut, stuck his chest out and bowled well along with Adil Rashid. It wasn’t easy for the batters coming in.
“We were smart with how we chased it down. Alex Hales showed how good he is, having come back in after a long time. Harry Brook showed a lot of confidence and that looks great for the future.”
His Pakistani counterpart, Babar Azam, said after the match, “How Rizwan and I played in the powerplay was very good. We stuck to the plan and afterwards England bowled well. There could have been a better partnership.
“England planned well and started the bowling off with some pace so we need to give them credit for that, but also our batsmen need to step up.”
