A much-changed England squad comfortably won the opening ODI against Pakistan by nine wickets in Cardiff.
A superb bowling performance from Saqib Mahmood reduced the tourists to just 141, before England chased it down with ease.
A new look side for England due to Covid
The main talking point ahead of the game was the news that England had to name an entirely new squad from what was first announced, after an outbreak of Covid within the camp.
As a result, Ben Stokes captained the side consisting of five debutants. Phil Salt, Zak Crawley, John Simpson, Lewis Gregory and Brydon Carse were all handed out debuts they were far from expecting less than a week ago.
Pakistan, with much less of a selection dilemma, handed out a debut to Karachi-born top-order batsmen Saud Shakeel.
Saqib Mahmood torments the Pakistan batsmen
The game started with an incredible opening over beginning with the very first delivery of the match as Mahmood sent the ball crashing into Imam-ul-Haq’s pads.
Despite loud appeals from England, the umpire was unmoved so Stokes reviewed the decision, and much to the jubilation of the hosts showed three reds on DRS meaning England were off to a flyer.
Three deliveries later, it got even better for Mahmood and England as he forced Pakistan’s dangerman and No 1-ranked ODI ranked batsman Babar Azam into an edge which was superbly caught low by Crawley in the slips.
The great start continued as two debutants combined after an incredible delivery from Gregory was matched by a top catch from Simpson behind the stumps, reducing the tourists to 17-3 from under four overs.
Pakistan then lost their fourth man as the debutant Shakeel was dismissed lbw by Mahmood, giving the Lancashire fast bowler his third wicket of the match, with Pakistan 26-4 after seven overs.
Fakhar Zaman offered resurgence for the tourists as he looked to accelerate their run rate with impressive hitting and consistent boundaries.
A calamitous moment followed after some poor running between the wickets and confusion between the two Pakistani batsmen saw Sohaib Maqsood well outside his crease allowing James Vince to hit the stumps.
Matty Parkinson then made another breakthrough as he removed the dangerman Fakhar who played a rare poor shot which was easily held by Crawley and reduced Pakistan to 90-6.
Mahmood continued his impressive spell as he claimed his fourth wicket as Faheem Ashraf edged wide of the crease behind to Simpson with a comfortable catch.
Hassan Ali was next to depart as Parkinson claimed another as Dawid Malan comfortably caught after dropping one not long beforehand.
Shadab Khan then pulled Craig Overton straight to Malan again who was in the deep to reduce Pakistan to 134-9.
The final wicket to fall was Shaheen Shah Afridi as he launched one straight up in the air where Stokes made a routine catch.
A superb performance with the ball saw England in a very comfortable looking position to take the first ODI of the series.
England cruise to the target of 141 for victory
England began the chase steadily but Salt got a thick edge on Shaheen’s delivery which was taken by Maqsood.
From that wicket aside, England were in complete control and reached Pakistan’s target with ease as Crawley and Malan hit half-centuries to win by nine wickets.
England take a 1-0 lead in the three match ODI series, with the second ODI set to be played in front of a full capacity Lord’s crowd on Saturday.
By Josh Mann
