T20 World Cup: Pakistan warm up with defeat against England

Pakistan came into the T20 World Cup after beating New Zealand in New Zealand conditions and lifting the tri-series trophy, but England on Monday brought them down to earth with a six-wicket win in the warm-up game in Brisbane, Australia.

Stand-in captain Shadab lost the toss against England and was asked to set a target by a fit-again Three Lions captain Jos Buttler.

The usual opening pair of Babar and keeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan didn’t come out to bat and left-handed batter Shan Masood and right-handed hard-hitter Haider Ali were sent to start the innings.

Haider was the first one to be dismissed on 18 off 16 as Buttler bagged a caught behind off Stokes’ bowling, making way for all-rounder Shadab to walk in at the one-down position.

Shan, the highest-scorer of Pakistan’s inning with 39 off 22, was the second wicket lost for Pakistan as he was caught by Sam Curran off Liam Livingstone’s bowling.

England pacer David Willey then wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up with two back-to-back wickets of Shadab (14 off 14) and incoming Khushdil Shah.

Swashbuckling batter Asif Ali was seen playing a rather uncharacteristic innings, where he hit only one four for his 14 runs off 12 balls.

All-rounder Mohammad Nawaz added 10 to the total off 11 balls, while tail-ender Mohammad Wasim played a cameo to score the second-highest in the innings, with 26 off 16, courtesy three fours and a six (the only six of the Pakistani innings).

With 161 to chase in the revised 19 overs, England came out with their usual openers Phil Salt and Alex Hales, unlike Pakistan.

Salt was sent back by pacer Naseem Shah in the second over with one delivery darted right into his stumps. Ben Stokes, who replaced Salt, did most of the scoring in the next few overs, but was removed by Wasim as Shan took the catch in the sixth over.

Hales was accounted for by Shadab in the seventh over after he managed just nine runs off 13 balls.

Pakistan’s premier tormentor in the seven T20Is series loss on home soil against England, the young batter Harry Brooks, was once again on a roll against the Men in Green, as he took the chase in his own hands and combined with Sam Curran to take England home with six wickets in hand.

The positive for Pakistan was the return of left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, who bowled two overs for only seven runs, a sign that England gave him respect, despite him returning from an injury and trying to rediscover his midas touch.

Interestingly during the match, Asif was seen keeping the wickets for Pakistan after the sixth over, replacing Rizwan in the role.

Pakistan will play Afghanistan next on Wednesday at the same venue, before they face India in their blockbuster T20 World Cup Super 12s opener on October 23.

Afghanistan, in their first warm-up, displayed their intent with a commanding 62-run win over Bangladesh. Afghanistan didn’t allow Bangladesh to even cross the 100-run mark in the latter’s chase of a 161-run target.

In other warm-up matches, India beat hosts and defending champions Australia by six runs. India set a 187-run target, before Australia were bundled out for 180.

New Zealand were outclassed by South Africa in a rain-reduced match, as the Proteas chased a revised target of 99 runs in just 11.2 overs.