BRISBANE: Ben Stokes showed signs of a return to form as England beat Pakistan by six wickets in a World Cup warm-up on Monday.

Stokes has struggled since returning to ODI cricket on this tour, but made 36 from 18 balls in a low-key affair at the Gabba reduced to 19 overs a side because of a short rain delay.

Pakistan made a fast start but were limited to 160-8 after being put into bat by Jos Buttler. Liam Livingstone also marked a return from an ankle injury with 28 from 16 deliveries before Harry Brook (45) and Sam Curran (33) chipping in with unbeaten cameos to complete the chase with 26 balls to spare.

Livingstone and Brook seem to be in a shootout for one middle-order spot and it may be that what happened at the Gabba has no bearing on who they choose.

After all, this match had no official T20 status — with both sides allowed to dip into as many of their 15-man squads as they wanted — and there were no fans present for what boiled down to an International Cricket Council obligation, one left-arm seamer David Willey admitted England “could do without” as they fly back to Perth for their opening World Cup match against Afghanistan on Saturday.

Buttler, though, was particularly happy with the return of Liam Livingstone (ankle) and Chris Jordan (finger) from injuries.

“We just wanted to get certain things out of the game and we got all of those things,” said Buttler. “It was great to see [Ben] play so well, he’s been hitting the ball so well in the nets and we know what a dangerous player he is, so I’m sure he’ll take a lot from that outing he got.

“It was great to see Liam Livingstone back on the field after a significant injury, and get four overs from Chris Jordan as well. Brook and Curran got some time out in the middle as well.”

Neither Babar Azam nor Mohammad Rizwan batted for Pakistan, who were captained by Shadab Khan, but Shan Masood top-scored with 39 from 22 balls.

Stokes overstepped twice without punishment in the opening over before being called at the third time of asking, as Shan and Haider Ali got off to a fast start to give Pakistan the early advantage.

England, who rotated their pace attack throughout the early stages, made the breakthrough in the fifth over when Haider (18) top-edged a short Stokes delivery and left Buttler a routine catch.

Shan continued to find boundaries and was on 39 when he misjudged an attempt to hit Livingstone over extra cover, resulting in Curran catching in the deep, before Willey trapped Shadab lbw and removed Khushdil Shah in successive deliveries.

A calamitous run out just before the rain delay saw Iftikhar Ahmed (22) stranded when trying to force a quick single from the non-striker’s end, while Curran claimed his wicket when he got Mohammad Nawaz (10) caught behind to leave Pakistan 124-6.

Asif Ali (14) was run out after a Willey delivery came off his shoulder and he was called through by playing partner Mohammad Wasim, who made a quickfire 26 off 16 balls before being dismissed by Jordan with the penultimate ball of the innings.

Buttler dropped down the order — and in the event did not bat at all — as Alex Hales and Phil Salt began England’s reply, although neither made it to double figures.

England’s cause was helped by some shoddy fielding from Pakistan, which included Livingstone being dropped off successive deliveries although he briefly sparkled with a couple of meaty sixes.

One cleared the ground, which underlined his status as one of the biggest hitters in the world.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:Shan Masood c Curran b Livingstone 39Haider Ali c Buttler b Stokes 18Shadab Khan lbw b Willey 14Iftikhar Ahmed run out (Rashid) 22Khushdil Shah c Buttler b Willey 0Asif Ali run out (Wood) 14Mohammad Nawaz c Buttler b Curran 10Mohammad Wasim c Buttler b Jordan 26Naseem Shah not out 2Haris Rauf not out 1EXTRAS (LB-2, NB-2, W-10) 14TOTAL (for eight wickets, 19 overs) 160DID NOT BAT: Usman Qadir, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hasnain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam FALL OF WICKETS: 1-49 (Haider), 2-67 (Shan), 3-96 (Shadab), 4-96 (Khushdil), 5-107 (Iftikhar), 6-124 (Nawaz), 7-147 (Asif), 8-159 (Wasim)BOWLING: Stokes 2-0-25-1 (2w, 2nb), Curran 2-0-14-1 (1w), Jordan 4-0-36-1 (2w), Wood 3-0-25-0 (3w), Livingstone 2-0-8-1, Moeen 2-0-14-0 (1w), Rashid 2-0-14-0, Willey 2-0-22-2 (1w)

ENGLAND:P. Salt b Naseem 1A. Hales c Khushdil b Shadab 9B. Stokes c Shan b Wasim 36L. Livingstone c Shadab b Wasim 28H. Brook not out 45S. Curran not out 33EXTRAS (B-5, LB-1, W-5) 11TOTAL (for four wickets, 14.4 overs) 163DID NOT BAT: C. Jordan, D. Malan, Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, J. Buttler, R. Topley, D.Willey, C. Woakes, M. Wood FALL OF WICKETS: 1-3 (Salt), 2-49 (Stokes), 3-51 (Hales), 4-104 (Livingstone)BOWLING: Shaheen 2-0-7-0 Naseem Shah 3-0-31-1 (1w), Hasnain 3-0-36-0 (2w), Wasim 2.4-0-16-2 (1w), Shadab 2-0-30-1, Nawaz 2-0-37-0 (1w)RESULT: England won by six wickets.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2022