England undercooked but victory over Pakistan highlights their key to T20 World Cup success

England might well be underprepared for the T20 World Cup, but they cruised to a comfortable victory in their final match before the tournament against Pakistan.

Two of the four scheduled T20s against Pakistan were rained off without a ball being bowled, and even the final one at the Oval could not escape a small rain delay in the first innings. However, it was not enough to deter England, who batted with a flourish to win by seven wickets.

Jos Buttler returned to the side following the birth of his child, and alongside Phil Salt, the duo batted with a flourish to chase down Pakistan’s sub-par total of 158 with 27 balls to spare.

It was a complete performance from the hosts, who dominated with bat and ball throughout both innings to finish their T20 World Cup preparations in an ideal fashion, although their number of warm-up matches was far less than planned.

Any question marks raised by Shaheen Shah Afridi at the start of the innings were soon quashed by the Lancashire pair who reached 78 runs without loss at the end of their powerplay. England played with freedom, finding the gaps in the field with ease, as Salt and Buttler put their recent Indian Premier League experience to effective use in south London.

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Pakistan claimed their first wicket when Salt was caught on the boundary, but not before he had amassed 45 runs from 24 deliveries. However, Will Jacks picked up where his teammate left off, stroking the ball to the off side boundary from his first delivery at his home ground.

Ultimately, the visitors did not take their chances, Azam Khan dropped two good chances behind the stumps, as Buttler reached 39 from 20 before he was eventually out caught behind by the wicketkeeper.

Jacks contributed a useful 20, before Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook guided England over the line, with the former smashing 28 from just 16 deliveries.

Pakistan’s batting innings, after England had won the toss and elected to bowl had started with promise. Muhammad Rizwan and Babar Azam brought up the visitors’ half century in just 5.2 overs, making the most of the powerplays and the additional pace on the ball.

But when the wickets started to fall, the slide came rapidly as Pakistan slid from 59 without loss to 86 for five. Azam was the first to go falling into a well-crafted trap by Buttler and Jofra Archer in the final ball of the powerplay, and Rizwan was bowled by Adil Rashid.

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There was a brief resistance in the lower middle order led by Iftikhar Ahmed, but it was not enough for Pakistan to avoid being bowled out, with two balls left in the innings for a meagre 157 runs.

However, it was England’s bowling that will encourage Buttler, with their World Cup campaign due to start on Tuesday against Scotland in Barbados. Jofra Archer and Mark Wood were at their lethal best, with the latter hitting speeds of a touch over 95 mph.

There were question marks raised about the fitness of the fast-bowling pair, with Archer having played just one match before the Oval for England since March 2023, and Wood also spending time away from the game following the side’s Test tour of India in the winter, but there were no signs of any issues.

“It’s really exciting,” Buttler said to the BBC when asked about the fast bowling pair, “Any time you see pace in the game, especially those two bowling together, it’s a great place to be.

“The two of them bowled really well on a quick wicket. It was coming through, Pakistan got it through as well. It’s always good to watch them bowl together.”

Chris Jordan was exceptional in the field, taking a stunning diving catch to dismiss Usman Khan, and took one wicket from his three overs.

England’s side looks balanced and poised, and it appears as though Buttler has settled on a preferred starting XI when they do head to the Caribbean. On those pitches, Archer and Wood could be even more lethal.