Key events
Off for rain
10.4 over: Pakistan 91-5 (Usman Khan 16, Iftikhar Ahmed 5) And, after studiously ignoring the rain for a couple of overs, the umpires call for the covers. England on top and chomping at the bit.
WICKET! Azam Khan c Buttler b Wood 0 (Pakistan 86-5)
A snorter to end all snorters! A vicious bouncer that Azam jerks back to but can’t avoid: the sequence sings: shoulder-glove-Buttler.
10th over: Pakistan 84-4 (Usman Khan 15, Azam Khan 0) England haul things back after a rapid start for Pakistan. Azam can’t get a run off Rashid’s first four balls from his box of tricks, and when Usman fancies one, Azam doesn’t move. A direct hit would have had Usman out.
WICKET! Shadab b Rashid 0 (Pakistan 84-4)
Shadab doesn’t pick the wrong-un first ball and won’t be adding that dismissal to his Royal Ballet audition tape.
9th over: Pakistan 83-32 (Usman Khan 14) A happy end for England to an over, during which Fakhar flambed Moeen for six and Buttler missed a stumping next ball.
WICKET! Fakhar Zaman c Rashid b Ali 9 (Pakistan 83-3)
A swirler into the clouds as Usman sweeps high but Rashid, circling like a puppy preparing to lie down, holds on.
8th over: Pakistan 74-2 (Usman Khan 12, Fakhar Zaman 2) Usman Khan’s eyes light up at a Liam Livingstone pie and he shuttles him ruthlessly over midwicket for six. Then Rashid, in a similar position as he was to catch Babar, misjudges an edge from Usman and lets it drops in front of him .
7th over: Pakistan 66-2 (Usman Khan 5, Fakhar Zaman 1) Rashid into his normal groove, just a hand clench of celebration as England rid themselves of Pakistan’s two biggest names. Usman picked up four, through backward point off his first ball.
WICKET! Rizwan b Rashid 23 (Pakistan 65-2)
Rizwan prods forward awkwardly and the ball zips between the gap, he turns quickly to catch his bails tipping to the ground.
WICKET! Babar c Rashid b Archer 36 (Pakistan 59-1)
Archer gets his revenge after being pinged for consecutive fours by Babar, who is done by the slower ball and glides him straight to short third where Rashid is waiting.
6th over: Pakistan 59-1 (Rizwan 22, ) Jofra back for the last over of the power play, some super sliding in the damp by Phil Salt deep saves two boundaries, but can’t stops Babar dumping the next two along the grass and over the rope. Babar can’t believe he gives it away at the last.
5th over: Pakistan 47-0 (Rizwan 22, Babar 24) The brains trust prescribes spin and Moeen Ali, head shaved to a sheen, red retro 1990s trainers is the man. Babar Azam lofts six with a nimble quickstep and slam over the sightscreen and into the pavilion. And the most delicate of late punches on one-knee, past a diving Mark Wood, brings Rizwan four more.
4th over: Pakistan 33-0 (Rizwan 15, Babar 17) A bowling change – Chris Jordan for Jofra Archer – brings Pakistan instant runs. Babar bish-bashes him over cover for four, and again next ball.
3rd over: Pakistan 23-0 (Rizwan 15, Babar 7) Wood most irritated as Rizwan absorbs the pace and pings it back at England – four through the covers, four more square. Wood fancies an edge on a Rizwan upper cut last ball but Buttler shakes his head and is right. The fastest start for England in an T20, apparently, with an average bowling speed of 91mph.
2nd over: Pakistan 13-0 (Rizwan 6, Babar 6) There’s an audible buzz round the ground as Archer takes the ball , the same long legged lean fast figure he ever was. Just five from his over, a frustrated Babar cries out as he fails to make a last ball drive count. Up around 90mph too, including a wide on height.
Play!
1st over: Pakistan 8-0 (Rizwan 3, Babar 5) Tingling first over from Wood, twin one in England’s opening pace barrage. The second ball is high-class swing at 95mph. Three other ball hit the 90s. But there is four for Babar, flicking with perfect timing through the legside to spectator delight.
Moeen Ali pulls his sleeves over his wrist bands in the huddle, Jos Buttler leads the gallop out to the middle. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan run out through the flames.
“It seems like the World Cup is last chance saloon for a lot of players, “ ponders Tom v d Gucht. “Buttler, Ali, Wood and Bairstow are all getting a bit long in the tooth… But Liam Livingstone seems to be a mercurial talent who’s older than I realised: he’s kind of like the T20 Zak Crawley, but with a less impressive highlights reel. On paper, his spin and muscular hitting offer more than Curran’s bustling medium pace and pinch-hitting. Yet, when the chips have been down, Curran seems to have delivered more and risen to the occasion – even if we feel a batsman light with Goldenarm in the team.”
It’s an interesting one. We were discussing Livingtone at Old Trafford last week – how strange his career has been – he started off wanting to be a Test player, but his path has been shaped by both injury and the rise and rise of franchise cricket. What he and Curran both have is that infuriating (for the opposition) ability to mis-hit sixes and take wickets with terrible balls as well as their conventional finely-honed skills.
Pakistan XI
Pakistan XI: Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam (c), Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Azam Khan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah.
An epic drops, hello Zain Malik!
“If the London weather deigns to cooperate (miracles do happen), we might witness T20-I #17 at cricket’s self-proclaimed “real home.” Ahem. Ahem. Yes, the so-called People’s Cricket Ground is set to host the Men in Green. It’s been over a decade since this historic venue condescended to accommodate the shortest format—perhaps The Oval prefers to avoid the gaudy spectacle of T20 cricket to keep its highbrow reputation intact.
”The Oval is practically Pakistan’s second home. It all started in ‘54 when Fazal Mahmood turned the English batting lineup into his personal plaything, securing Pakistan’s first Test win on English soil in just their second appearance. A real “we’ve arrived” moment if there ever was one.
“Fast forward through the decades, and the Oval has been a stage for Pakistan’s cricketing theater. Sure, there was the 2006 ball-tampering melodrama, but hey, every great venue needs a scandal. Apart from that blip, the last time England managed to best Pakistan in a Test at this ground was in 1967. Yes, 1967. Let that sink in.
“This is the same ground where Pakistan triumphed in the Champions Trophy, leaving their mark with a golden victory. It’s where cricketing maestros like Miandad and Zaheer Abbas hammered out double centuries as if they were swatting flies, and where Younis Khan added his own magnum opus to the Oval’s storied history. And who can forget Umar Gul’s demolition job on New Zealand in the 2009 T20 World Cup? The man turned the pitch into his personal firing range.
“So here we are, at a venue that’s as old as cricket itself (or at least it likes to think so). On this typically gray and gloomy Thursday evening, let’s all pray to the weather gods for a sliver of cricket amidst the clouds.”
At the moment, those gods are listening. Grey but – as I type – dry.
World Cup reminder: England are in Group B alongside Australia, Namibia, Scotland and Oman. Pakistan are in Group A alongside India, Ireland, Canada and USA.
England XI
England XI: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (c, wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
England win the toss and will bowl!
Jos Buttler is back and celebrates the baby’s birth by winning the toss on a pitch with a “little bit of green grass”. Mum and baby are apparently doing well. Babar Azam says he would have bowled too.
One change for England: Mark Wood for Reece Topley.
Two changes for Pakistan: Usman Khan and Naseem Shah for Saim Ayub and Imad Wasim
Simon has better news. “Slightly early team news: Archer and CJ have marked their run-ups so are in. I’m expecting Wood to replace Topley.” Jos Buttler is also back in the fold, though no official word yet on whether his baby has arrived.
There is a weather theme developing. “Hopefully we’ll get some cricket today,” writes Simon McMahon. “And at least we won’t have to worry about the weather when the tournament proper gets underway…
Oh dear…
Hello Brendan Large! “Why did we ever start playing cricket in England? Surely it should’ve been an indoors sport? I love watching England play and this “series” has really ruined my week. Frustrated England fan in Norway with fingers and toes crossed that we can at least get bit of play today.”
It’s dismal isn’t it. To be fair, those early Hambledon pioneers probably hadn’t forseen the many-fold disasters of man-made climate change. Luck, the ICC has embraced it so enthusiastically with their multi-million pound deal with Aramco and the like.
Update from the capital: the covers are currently on their way off and Pakistan are warming up – no doubt wondering which fool planned this stop-off in the land of constant umbrellas.
I enjoyed this piece on Uganda by Taha:
And here’s the Guardian’s team by team guide, from Rohit to Ravindra.
Preamble
Good evening from this wet land. Today’s T20 is on paper the fourth and last of the warm-up series, in theory the second and last, but the weather may run a line through the whole damn thing.
Simon Burnton is at The Oval where he has in the last five minutes reported sun, showers, “chucking it down” and sun again. But we’ll be here anyway, weather watching. Do join in.
