Daily Times

Jofra Archer claimed two wickets on his long-awaited return to international cricket to help England beat Pakistan by 23 runs at Edgbaston to move 1-0 up in the four-match T20 series.

This was Archer’s first appearance on the international stage in 14 months, but he had not played for his country on English soil since 2020 after an injury-hit few years where he had been troubled by repeated issues with his right elbow.

Archer was able to make up for lost time and bounce back from an expensive first over which went for 15 runs to finish with two for 28 and help England dismiss Pakistan for 160 in pursuit of 184.

England’s 183 for seven was largely down to a blistering half-century from captain Jos Buttler, who struck three sixes on his way to 84 before a collapse of five wickets for 25 runs left the door open for Pakistan.

Fakhar Zaman ensured Pakistan made a strong start to their chase with 45 off 21 balls, but Reece Topley picked up three wickets and Moeen Ali and Archer claimed two scalps each to help England begin their T20 World Cup preparations with a victory after Wednesday’s washout in Leeds.

Buttler resisted the temptation to open the bowling with Archer and went with Moeen, which paid off when Mohammad Rizwan picked out Liam Livingstone at midwicket to depart for a duck.

England were well on top when Topley claimed the scalp of Saim Ayub from his second over, but it brought Fakhar to the crease.

While Fakhar edged his first delivery over Moeen in the slips, it sparked a run of fours from each of his first five deliveries.

Archer’s eagerly-anticipated return arrived next, but Fakhar provided the England bowler with a reminder of how brutal international cricket can be.