KARACHI: A new-look England side took the opening Twenty20 international by six wickets in Karachi on Tuesday, caping their return to Pakistan after 17 years in a memorable way.

Opener Alex Hales hit a 40-ball 53 – his first international after a three-year absence on a failed recreational drug test – to anchor England’s chase of a modest 159-run target in 19.2 overs.

Pakistan opener Mohammad Rizwan scored 46-ball 68 to help Pakistan to 158-7 in their 20 overs after England sent them in to bat at a capacity National stadium.

Rizwan was batting at 53 of 33 deliveries while Babar was bowled by an Adil Rashid googly in the tenth over for 31 off 24 deliveries.

Rizwan, top run-getter in the Asia Cup earlier this month with 281, knocked six boundaries and two sixes and put on 85 for the first wicket with skipper Babar Azam (31) after England won the toss and fielded.

Iftikhar Ahmed hit three sixes in his 17-ball 28 but Pakistan managed just 71 runs in the last ten overs, losing six wickets.

Debutant Shan Masood failed with just seven runs while Haider Ali scored eleven.

The win gives England a 1-0 lead in the seven-match series.

Pakistan’s players wore a special kit in the game on which their names and numbers are shown submerged in water, to show solidarity with victims of the floods in the country.

England’s players wore black armbands as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II who died earlier this month.

Hales, recalled after injury ruled out Jonny Bairstow, smashed seven boundaries and added 55 for the fourth wicket with Harry Brook who finished with 42 not out.

Brook, one of seven England players to feature in this year’s Pakistan Super League, cracked seven boundaries in a robust 25-ball knock.

Ben Duckett (21), Dawid Malan (20) and Phil Salt (ten) were other England contributors.

Pakistan’s innings was once again held by Rizwan.

England debutant paceman Luke Wood finished with 3-24, while spinner Adil Rashid took 2-27.

The remaining matches are in Karachi (September 22, 23, 25) and in Lahore (September 28, 30 and October 2).

Toss

England’s stand-in skipper Moeen Ali made the right call at the toss and put Pakistan into bat in the first match of the seven-match T20I series that got underway at Karachi’s National Stadium on Tuesday.

England’s series marks a return to the country after a gap of 17 years.

Pakistan made several changes to the side that made it to the final before losing to Sri Lanka in the recently-concluded Asia Cup. Top-order batter Shan Masood was given a T20I debut following a string of aggressive performances on the English limited-overs circuit. Middle-order batter Haider Ali also returned to the side following an injury lay off. Wristerspinner Usman Qadir replaced Shadab Khan, while Shahnawaz Dahani returned after missing the last match due to injury.

For England, left-arm seamer Luke Wood made his debut. Hard-hitting opener Alex Hales also marked his return to international cricket after three years.

Teams

England: 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Duckett, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali (capt), 7 Sam Curran, 8 David Willey, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Luke Wood, 11 Richard Gleeson

Pakistan: 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Haider Ali, 4 Shan Masood, 5 Iftikhar Ahmed, 6 Khushdil Shah, 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Usman Qadir, 9 Haris Rauf, 10 Naseem Shah, 11 Shahnawaz Dahani