England win the first T20 of their return to Pakistan after 17 years

Alex Hales marked his return to the international stage in emphatic style last night with the match-defining performance in an emotional and historical England win over Pakistan.

It is fair to say that he had waited some time for this moment. Not as long as the Pakistanis, who were hosting an international fixture between the two nations on their own soil for the first time since 2005.

Yet to Hales, his own three-year exile ‘felt like forever,’ he said, after an innings of 53 off 40 deliveries inflicted a first-ever defeat on Pakistan in Twenty20s at the National Stadium.

‘It was a very special feeling to be back on the park for England. Three years felt like forever. To go out and score 50 in my first game is what dreams are made of,’ Hales said.

‘The guys said it was not down to cricket that I missed three years but there was always nerves and pressure. It felt like a debut again.’

Reflecting upon landing in Pakistan last week on the olive branch handed to him via a recall for this seven-match series and the Twenty20 World Cup that follows in Australia next month, he accepted he had no one to blame for his extended absence but himself following a failed drugs test on the eve of the 2019 summer.

Hales was unable to match the fluency of Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan who struck a 46-ball 68

At 33, he was more mature, he said, and most importantly had become a better player during recent seasons as a T20 specialist.

If proof were needed, he provided it with his attitude in a chase of 159 that was sealed with four deliveries unused.

‘It was all about getting over the line,’ he reflected, acknowledging he was not at his fluent best. However, although he was dismissed immediately after toasting his comeback half-century, there were only a further 17 runs required at less than a run a ball.

Indeed, Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan, his rival opener struck a 46-ball 68 and had been much more pleasing on the eye.

Ben Duckett was also making a return to the England set up after a long absence from the side

Crucially, though, while Rizwan lost patience and his wicket at a significant juncture, Hales dogged it out until the 17th over before falling to a miscue to mid-off off Haris Rauf, after trusting in the mercurial skills of Harry Brook at the other end.

The pair brought up a 50 stand in just 32 deliveries and ensured that England made good the toss won by Moeen Ali, captaining in the country of his heritage with Jos Buttler recovering from injury.

Statistics show that 60% of floodlit T20s in Pakistan are won by teams chasing.

Luke Wood’s pace ensured he enjoyed a stunning debut for his country taking three wickets

A contest, the funds from which will go to Pakistan’s flood appeal – the home players sported a special kit in which their names and numbers were half-submerged as a show of solidarity with their people – was settled when Brook lashed fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani through the covers for his seventh boundary in an unbeaten 42.

Both teams had come into the game with plenty of new faces but it was those belonging to England who enjoyed most success, with Lancashire left-armer Luke Wood enjoying a stunning debut.

His three wickets at the death of Pakistan’s 158 for seven left him with an analysis of 4-0-24-3 and ensured an innings of two halves for the Pakistanis finished with a sagging feeling.

England were playing their first game in Pakistan since 2005 after an attack in 2009 prevented touring sides visiting the country for a number of years

Despite their outstanding records in T20 cricket, Pakistan’s openers Babar Azam and Rizwan came into this series under a cloud of negativity.

Babar retains a ranking of three in the world rankings but has had his place within the national side questioned amid accusations in Pakistani cricket circles of slow scoring, with some suggesting it is a legitimate tactic for opponents to keep him in rather than try to dismiss him.

Stung by the criticism, he produced a counter-punch to race into the 20s from 10 balls, and was seemingly putting an horrific Asia Cup campaign in which he mustered just 68 runs in six innings behind him.

Similar accusations of ball-chewing were levelled at Rizwan, owner of the highest T20 international batting average by anyone to have played 20 innings.

But Adil Rashid altered the momentum of the innings in the 10th over when he speared a googly through Pakistan captain Babar’s defence.

And a sequence of three wickets for 11 runs soon afterwards left them on course to an under-par total on a pitch that Hales summed up perfectly on his second coming.