Alex Hales made a statement with a rapid 84, while quicks Mark Wood and Sam Curran thwarted Australia’s bold chase as England stepped up their T20 World Cup preparations with a tight eight-run victory in the series opener in Perth. In a record 132-run opening partnership for England against Australia, Hales and the returning Jos Buttler flattened a weakened attack to power the tourists to a huge total.

An aggressive Australia, who had dropped Steven Smith, were on pace with David Warner making his second consecutive half-century. England held their nerve through quality death bowling from Wood and Curran. It was a return of international cricket in Perth since the women’s T20 World Cup in February 2020 after an easing of strict Covid-19 measures. The final two games of the series will be played in Canberra starting on Wednesday.

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England wins against Australia and gets nice boost at the start of this series

Against a second-string Australia attack on a fast Optus Stadium pitch, a golden opportunity loomed for Buttler and Hales, who had been given the nod ahead of Phil Salt. Buttler demonstrated his fitness from a nagging calf injury with a blistering assault in the opening over, smashing four boundaries off Cameron Green whose first international match on his home ground started disastrously.

In all-out attack mode, Buttler was at his brilliant best with a slew of destructive shots all around the wicket, including consecutive outrageous scoops in the fifth over against exasperated quick Kane Richardson. Hales started slowly, by comparison, before finding his range as the pair smashed 58 runs in the powerplay. There was no lull immediately after with Buttler launching legspinner Mitchell Swepson for consecutive sixes. They notched a century stand within nine overs before Buttler finally fell in the 12th over to Nathan Ellis.

Hales then took over in similar fashion to his dominance in the BBL to almost surely cement a spot in England’s T20 World Cup line-up. Resting their frontline attack for the sole match of the series in Perth, Australia were perhaps on a hiding to nothing. Captain Aaron Finch had hoped to take advantage of the overcast conditions and smattering of grass, but his inexperienced attack mostly copped a flogging. Green particularly struggled with a slew of half volleys and his confidence spiralled when he bowled a beamer in the 13th over.

PAK vs ENG 1st T20I: England 160 for 4 (Hales 53, Brook 42*) beat Pakistan 158 for 7 (Rizwan 68, Wood 3-24) by six wickets

Alex Hales made a half-century on his first England appearance in over three years as the tourists started their seven-match series by completing a comfortable chase under the Karachi floodlights. Hales fell for 53 off 40 with 17 required, however an unbeaten 42 from Harry Creek, in his fifth T20I, saw England home with four balls to spare.

Having been embedded at the toss, Pakistan’s innings was indeed built around a strong opening stand between Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam. Rizwan proceeded with his great form from the Asia Cup, top-scoring with 68 from 46, however the middle and lower order failed to fire, Iftikhar Ahmed’s three sixes in 28 from 17 giving just a gleam of the aggression required on a placid batting surface, as England debutant Luke Wood finished with 3 for 24.

Accordingly, Hales was the glue that kept England’s pursuit intact. Phil Salt was splendidly held at deep square leg and Usman Qadir hit with his second ball to eliminate Dawid Malan; yet Ben Duckett swept and reverse-swept- with differing levels of achievement – to keep the expected rate close by. Brook then, at that point, created the most fluent innings of the night, playing various eye-catching shots in his 25-ball innings, including the winning hit over extra cover.

HIGHLIGHTS

Hales wins after prolonged delay

It had been 1291 days since Hales last batted in an England shirt, and a lot of water had flowed under the bridge in the mediating period. A lot of runs have moved from Hales’ bat, as well, and he proceeded with that prolific form in the shortest partnership with his first T20I fifty since July 2018 (1538 days prior, to be exact).

His second real delivery  was rattled through backward point in trademark, long-levered style and, despite the fact that he was not at his most fluent, there was a lot of ringcraft about Hales’ innings as he moored the chase. Three of his initial seven balls went to the rope, as he hoped to push England ahead of the expected rate, however he was then happy to tick along – albeit content might not be the right word, on the proof of a few disappointed yells as he battled for timing during the middle overs.

Hales only managed one boundary with the field out between the seventh and fourteenth overs, and on 28 from 22 he was dropped in the deep by Shan Masood hoping to fabricate a slog-sweep off Qadir. In any case, the target was consistently in range and, with 52 needed from 36, Brook and Hales unexpectedly clicked into gear, the latter going from 38 off 32 to 53 off 39 before holding out to cover with just the finishing touches required.

Pakistan’s opening statement

Notwithstanding their greedy endeavours as an opening pair, there has been a little heat on the Babar-Rizwan combination lately. Babar made 68 runs in six innings at the Asia Cup and, while he clearly required time in the middle looking for some form, there had been an idea that Rizwan would be rested, permitting Masood to bat in his favoured position at opener and Mohammad Haris to take the gloves.

Instead, Rizwan’s name was in its usual spot on the team sheet at the toss, and the regular openers walked out together after England had chosen to bowl. Rizwan was in the middle of looking for singles and Babar stroked his first ball through the covers; boundaries were taken out around the ground as they raised their ninth 50 plus opening stand for Pakistan. Moeen Ali was smoked over long-on as Rizwan went to a 32-ball fifty.

Be that as it may, things started to go stray towards the middle of the innings. First Babar was unstitched by Adil Rashid’s googly, finishing the partnership at 85 in the 10th over. Haider Ali, playing his first T20I in quite a while, attempted to get rolling prior to holing out off Sam Curran. What’s more, in spite of Rizwan equalling Babar’s record as the fastest man to 2000 T20I runs, he was stumped off Moeen when Pakistan were shifting focus over to him to kick on. When Masood, on T20I debut at No. 4, top-edged a reverse-sweep to the edge of the ring for 7 off seven balls, Pakistan had lost 4 for 35 off 35 balls.

Once again, Pakistan’s top three made more than 66% of the team’s runs – for this situation 69% – yet having confronted 83 out of 120 balls (also 69%). Whether that is an ideal distribution of assets is a discussion that will keep on seething.

Good Wood

England chose a much-changed side, with Hales back, Salt opening for the first time and Duckett playing his second T20I three years on from the first. The only new cap was Wood, an unused member from the ODI team in the Netherlands earlier this year.

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Usually charged with the new ball looking for early swing, Wood was rather first change, yet yielded only 12 runs from his two overs in the powerplay. When he returned later in the innings, he created a marvel to tidy up Mohammad Nawaz for his first international wicket, nipping the ball back beyond an extensive swing to flatten off stump. Only four runs fell off the eighteenth over and despite the fact that he began the twentieth with a full toss that cruised for six, a sequence of W-1-W-dot-1 implied England finished in a confident mood.