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Pakistan v England, 1st T20i: Five Things We Learned

England recorded an impressive victory over Pakistan in the 1st T20 international. But what pointers did we learn from the victory?

MAN OF THE DAY: SAM BILLINGS (53 OFF 27)

The role of “finisher” being what it is in Twenty20 – with little to no time to start but a responsibility to find boundaries regularly without the aid of a new ball or fielding restrictions – you do well to source one as an international side. That England have two, in Jos Buttler and Sam Billings, is something of a treat. The key is that they can hit to areas that are often unguarded in the latter stages of an innings. Billings showed his hand with some nice moves to open up the legside and hit 24 runs to midwicket and mid on. With the extra pace of Wahab Riaz, he got his ramp out and angled it towards fine leg – first for four, then for six – for the first two balls of Riaz’s last over. There is little doubt that Buttler will keep wicket in the World Twenty20 and, just like the last T20 England played, against Australia in August, Billings should play with him. His half-century was the second fastest by an Englishman in T20i cricket.

VINCE CONTINUES THE TREND

It is said of James Vince that you can bank on him to score runs in a televised match. Thankfully for those at home, he looks very good while doing so. It turns out this trait carries through to international cricket (for now at least). At number three, he found himself at the crease in the third over, as Jason Roy and Alex Hales were undone by deliveries that stuck in the pitch. When Moeen Ali went in the next over for a duck, Vince had a rebuilding effort on his hands – one he carried out impeccably. He got to the pace of the pitch and played some signature shots through the offside: cultured, straight bat shots that pack much more venom than those of your standard traditionalist. He nearly destroyed his stumps when he got out but by that point his 41, featuring six fours and one six, together with Eoin Morgan (who finished on 45*), helped take England from 18 to 95 at the end of the 14th over, in the space of 69 balls.

CAGED PLUNKETT

The questions over Liam Plunkett’s omission from the Test squad to South Africa resurfaced tenfold after his first delivery. It was clocked in at 92mph. England return home from the UAE next month, having spent two months there, but only here, in the last few days of the tour, did Plunkett get his first competitive outing. And it was one full of pent up frustration, averaging 89mph across his four overs. He peppered the Pakistan batsmen with short stuff and still had the smarts to throw in some slower deliveries, despite his frustrations, to take three for 21. Amazingly, this was his first Twenty20 international in more than nine years. Given England go to South Africa without the pace and bounce of Steven Finn and Mark Wood, Plunkett’s absence is just straight peculiar.

NERVES HELD

The death is always going to make short work of finger nails. With the tension rising and the odd boundary going, it’s easy to fear the worst when your team is doing the defending in the field. With 30 balls remaining, Pakistan needed 61 and were taken relatively close by big hits from Sohail Tanvir and Wahab Riaz. They managed to take 10 from the 18th over (bowled by Reece Topley) and then the 19th (Chris Jordan), leading many to dread a very English loss, despite 20 being required from the last over. Of course, the margin of victory could have been greater but it’s unrealistic to expect bowlers to nail six yorkers out of six. Somewhere along the line, most likely in the World T20 when the pressure is ramped up and the batsmen in question aren’t biffing tailenders but top-level hitters, England will be stung. That’s just the nature of T20 cricket. The visitors’ death bowlers did enough.

AGE IS NOTHING BUT A NUMBER

At 39-years-old, Peshar’s Rafatullah Mohmand became the oldest player from a Test nation to make his T20i debut. He’s been picked on merit, too: averaging 34 at a strike rate of 161 in his last three Twenty20 tournaments (thanks to Pakistani journalist Hassan Cheema for that stat). He didn’t really get going, slashing and heaving to no avail and was eventually dismissed by Plunkett. It just goes to show – you know, being old is OK. But it also helps if you have a great beard.