Pakistan bowl in 1st England T20
Pakistan's attack included left-arm quick Mohammad Amir.
MANCHESTER (AFP) - Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and elected to field against England in the first Twenty20 international at Old Trafford on Friday.
The tourists decided against giving a debut to teenage batsman Haider Ali, preferring the experience of Mohammad Hafeez.
Meanwhile Mohammad Rizwan, who kept superbly during Pakistan s 1-0 defeat in a three-Test series by England concluded Tuesday, was preferred behind the stumps to former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Pakistan s attack included left-arm quick Mohammad Amir.
"We have prepared well and the team is very confident," said Babar through an interpreter.
"We would have looked to do the same (bowl first)," said England captain Eoin Morgan, with batsman Joe Denly and left-arm quick David Willey not making it into the final XI.
England, the 50-over world champions, were without Jason Roy after the opening batsman was ruled out of this three-match series because of a side injury.
His place at the top of the order was taken by Tom Banton, with England missing the likes of white-ball regulars such as Test skipper Joe Root, all-rounder Ben Stokes, wicketkeeper Jos Buttler and fast bowler Jofra Archer as they are fielding separate Test and limited-overs squads amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Dawid Malan, who has a superb average of over 52 in T20 internationals, came in at number three.
This series should have acted as a warm-up for the T20 World Cup in Australia in October but Covid-19 means the global showpiece has now been rescheduled for 2021 in India.
Teams
England: Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Tom Banton, Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan (capt), Sam Billings, Moeen Ali, Lewis Gregory, Tom Curran, Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood
Pakistan: Babar Azam (capt), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wkt), Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
Umpires: Mike Burns (ENG), Alex Wharf (ENG)
TV umpire: Martin Saggers (ENG)
Match referee: Wayne Noon (ENG)
