England beat Pakistan 2-0 in a rain-affected four-match T20I series. Here are five takeaways from the two completed games.
Jofra Archer makes seamless return to action
Jofra Archer's appearance at Edgbaston was his first home international in front of fans since the 2019 Oval Test. Given the length of his absence, the nature of his return was extremely encouraging, reaching speeds around the 90mph-mark in each of his two appearances. Archer's comfort at bowling at all phases of an innings – as he displayed in the fourth game, delivering four one-over spells – is a priceless asset for this England team. If he stays fit, England are another force altogether.
Pakistan's batting in danger of falling behind the curve
The instability of Pakistan's batting line-up stood out. Usman Khan's counter-attacking 21-ball 38 was a rare cause for excitement in the fourth T20I, as was Fakhar Zaman's quickfire 45 in the second, but aside from that, familiar problems resurfaced. Saim Ayub was dropped for the series finale, reuniting Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan at the top of the order. It is telling that Pakistan deem it necessary to make a structural change to the top order so close to the start of a global event. Scores of 160 and 157 on two good surfaces aptly sum up where Pakistan are as a batting unit in a format that is seeing run-scoring records broken on a nearly weekly basis.
Azam Khan endures horrid series
Azam Khan was all at sea against Mark Wood at The Oval – expect him to face a bouncer barrage from express quicks at the T20 World Cup. That is if he makes the Pakistan XI – his latest failure means that he averages less than 10 from 13 T20Is. Azam was hardly a steady presence behind the stumps, either. A simple spilt chance behind the stumps in the fourth T20I handed the dangerous Phil Salt a life when England were already motoring along to their target, before he dropped a sitter off Will Jacks a few overs later – his spot in the XI must surely be under real threat.
Buttler looks back to his best
In theory, the Salt-Buttler partnership should work well. Few openers in the world game go as hard as early as Salt does, giving Buttler two or three overs to acclimitise himself against the new ball. In both games Buttler initially played second fiddle before hitting his stride, and did so extremely effectively. An in-form Buttler is one of, if not the most, dangerous T20 batters on the planet.
All-round options give England enviable depth
There were 14 one-over spells in Pakistan's innings at The Oval as Jos Buttler chopped and changed throughout. England's glut of all-round options gives them depth in both disciplines that few sides can compete with. With Will Jacks, Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone in their top seven, they will almost always have seven bowling options. It was telling that Sam Curran, the Player of the Tournament at the 2022 T20 World Cup, did not feature in either game.
Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match analysis, player interviews, and much more.
