Pakistan VS England T20I: Alex Hales and Harry Brook gives visitors 1-0 lead

To make the occasion even sweeter, this would be the first time an England side toured Pakistan all the way back in 2005.

And it was the visitors who marked the occasion with a victory, running out comfortable victors in which the hosts’ issues were brutally exposed by one of the world’s best sides.

Chasing 159, England sealed the match in 19.2 overs. The result was never in doubt, even after a bit of a middle-order wobble from England that did add just the slightest bit of scoreboard pressure.

However, a quickfire 42 from the man of the match Harry Brook – as well as a half-century from returning opening batsman Alex Hales were enough to seal the deal for the side.

For England, the main issue would be how it is their top order fared. Jos Buttler, their regular white-ball skipper, was ruled out of the first match due to a calf injury.

This meant needing to plug two holes at once – that of a full-time wicketkeeper as well as a top-order batsman. England turned to Phil Salt to fill Buttler’s big boots, while Mooen Ali led the side.

Salt didn’t get going as a batsman, scoring a run-a-ball 10 before being dismissed by Shahnawaz Dahani. However, it was Hales who made all the difference up top.

This was a big match for the returning batsman – he hadn’t had a sniff of the national team set-up since his ban for recreational drug usage in 2019 and needed a big knock. And that is what he got.

His 53 off 40 balls wasn’t the fastest innings, but it didn’t need to be. Chasing a target while needing to score at 8 runs per over, after all, doesn’t need a batsman to go all guns blazing.

The key to Hales’ innings was that he stuck around. While Dawid Malan (20 off 15 balls) and Ben Duckett (21 off 17 balls) both got starts, neither hung around too long.

Yet by the time Hales was dismissed, England needed only 17 more runs to win. And of course, it helped that Brook came in at number 5 and played a blinder of an innings.

For Pakistan, however, it was a rude awakening. The side made it to the Asia Cup final – and lost to Sri Lanka. But they didn’t look like a side who’d just contested a final at all.

Their middle order woes have been evident for quite some time, and that’s what cost them this match. Both Babar Azam (31 off 24 balls) and Mohammad Rizwan (68 off 46 balls) were among the runs.

However, the next best contribution came from Iftikhar Ahmed (28 off 17 balls). Haider Ali scored 11, whereas the debuting Shan Masood could only manage 7.

Pakistan’s middle order looks brittle, and without Shaheen Shah Afridi the bowling also looks ordinary. It’s safe to say that the side has a lot to do before the T20I World Cup.