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England may not have been fully prepared for the T20 World Cup, but they did manage to beat Pakistan comfortably in their final match before the tournament.
Two of the four scheduled T20 matches against Pakistan were rained out and not a single ball was bowled, and the final match at the Oval also saw a rain break during the first innings, but this did not dampen England’s momentum as they batted brilliantly to win by seven wickets.
Jos Buttler, returning to the team after giving birth, produced some brilliant batting display alongside Phil Salt to help Pakistan chase down a below-average score of 158 with 27 balls to spare.
The hosts produced a flawless performance, dominating both batting and pitching throughout both innings and ensuring an ideal end to their preparations for the T20 World Cup despite playing far fewer warm-up matches than planned.
Any doubts raised by Shaheen Shah Afridi early in the innings were quickly dispelled by the Lancashire duo, who put on 78 runs at the end of the powerplay. England played with freedom and found gaps in the field with ease, with Salt and Buttler putting their recent Indian Premier League experience to good use in south London.
Pakistan got their first wicket when Salt was caught on the boundary line, although prior to that he had scored 45 off 24 deliveries. But Will Jacks picked up where his teammate left off, hitting the ball to the offside boundary with his first delivery on his home ground.
In the end, the visitors failed to capitalise on their chances, with Azam Khan missing two good chances behind the stumps and Buttler scoring 39 off 20 before being caught behind by the wicket-keeper.
Jacks contributed with 20 runs before Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook guided England to victory, with Bairstow smashing 28 off just 16 deliveries.
Pakistan’s batting innings got off to a promising start after England won the toss and elected to bowl, with Muhammad Rizwan and Babar Azam making the most of the powerplay and the faster pace of the ball to help the visitors reach fifty in just 5.2 overs.
But as wickets began to fall, Pakistan rapidly retreated from 59 for 5 to 86 for 5. On the final ball of the powerplay, Azam was the first to be run out after falling into a clever trap set by Buttler and Jofra Archer, before Rizwan was bowled by Adil Rashid.
Iftikhar Ahmed’s lower-middle order offered some resistance but it wasn’t enough to help Pakistan avoid being bowled out, managing just 157 runs with two balls remaining of the innings.
But Buttler will be encouraged by England’s bowling, whose World Cup campaign is set to begin with a showdown with Scotland in Barbados on Tuesday, with Jofra Archer and Mark Wood providing their best attacking form, the latter clocking a speed of just over 95mph.
With Archer having played just one match for England since March 2023 prior to the Oval and Wood also out of action following the team’s Test tour of India over the winter, there were doubts raised about the fast-bowling duo’s fitness but there have been no signs of any issues.
“I’m really excited,” Buttler told the BBC when asked about the fastball duo. “Anytime you see speed in the game, especially when these two are pitching together, it’s a great feeling.”
“They both bowled really well on a quick wicket. The ball went through and Pakistan went through. It’s always fun to see them both bowl together.”
Chris Jordan was brilliant in the field, dismissing Usman Khan with a diving catch to claim one wicket in three overs.
England’s team looks balanced and composed, Buttler appears to have already decided on his preferred starting XI for the trip to the Caribbean, where Archer and Wood could be even more lethal.
