Key events
Will Jacks to debut. According to Matt Roller from ESPNCricinfo, it’ll Will Jacks. The 23-year-old off-spinning batter from Surrey. What a week it’s been for the south London club. After clinching the County Championship with a thumping win over Yorkshire, there’s another England cap for one of their youngsters.
Someone’s getting a new cap
Alex Hales and David Willey haven’t travelled to the National Stadium tonight. England about to present a cap
— Matt Roller (@mroller98) September 23, 2022
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
Hello and welcome to the live OBO report of the 3rd T20 international between Pakistan and England from Karachi. We’re all square in the series after Alex Hales bashed a breezy half century on his return match to get things going for the tourists before Babar Azam unfurled a majestic ton in an unbeaten opening stand of 203 to get the hosts on the scoresheet in emphatic fashion.
It’s been a fascinating match-up with England ably skippered by Moeen Ali, who told our man Andy Bull that he’s proud to lead his country:
It’s not just the England players who are making waves in Pakistan. A couple of English coaches have cast their gaze around 3,875 miles east. You can read all about that from our head honcho Ali Martin over here:
If you’re so inclined, and you don’t mind a bit of self indulgence on my part, you can take a gander at this week’s Spin column. In it I examine the ramifications of a new T20 franchise tournament, crammed into an already stuffed calendar, and why a national team captain has been forced to watch on from the outside.
Those three pieces should keep you occupied for now. I’ll be back with the toss and team reports in around 30 minutes (unless of course you get in touch with an email or tweet).
First ball is at 7:30pm local time/3:30pm BST.
Catch you in a few.