England beat Pakistan by 52 runs to win series – as it happened

Last modified: 06: 49 PM GMT+0

A fine all-round effort by Lewis Gregory and wonderful bowling from Saqib Mahmood took England to victory

A late email arrives from Colum Fordham: “I liked your description of Babar Azam’s sumptuous on-drive as being like lavender shortcake with a cup of Earl Grey. I was reminded of the excellent lavender biscuit baked by a friend who has a lavender farm on Abruzzo. Pakistan seem to be crumbling like a soggy digestive.”

I’m afraid Pakistan did a little, in the face of relentless bowling by England. There’s one more game in this series, time for Pakistan to fire up the mojo - or perhaps just for Babar to find a way of playing Saqib Mahmood, the seaming, swinging, sensation. A mention for John Simpson too, beautifully clean behind the stumps. That’s it from me - goodnight!

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Lewis Gregory is the player of the match!

“It was a case of taking it as deep as possible, I’d have liked to have batted for another few overs. The ball has nibbled a little bit all day, I thought the guys were outstanding. It is a fantastic opportunity for the lads and it is really exciting to see.”

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Babar Azam is being interviewed in his home tongue, which is long overdue.

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England win by 52 runs in 40 overs!

A cracking win by England’s second-string team - never really in doubt from the moment Phil Salt and James Vince stroked a bewildering start. England take the series with one game left and a bulging locker of fast bowlers to consider after Saqib Mahmood, Brydon Carse, Lewis Gregory and Craig Overton all turned out in their best bib and tucker. A particular hat tip for Gregory, who made 40 to go alongside his three wickets, and the unplayable Mahmood.

Pakistan can be pleased by Saud Shakeel’s fifty, and Hasan Ali’s five wickets and gleeful freedom with the bat.

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WICKET! Rauf c Simpson by Gregory 1 (Pakistan 195 all out). England win by 52 runs.

A deserved third wicket for Gregory, as Rauf gloves a short ball that is flying down leg side and the very impressive Simpson leaps to his left and scoops it up. And that’s that!

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40th over: Pakistan 192-9 ( Shaheen Afridi 16) Shakeel falls to his knees to sweep Parkinson but doesn’t get the full bat on it; he does next ball but only sends it straight to Overton on the deep midwicket fence.

WICKET! Shakeel c Overton b Parkinson 56 (Pakistan 192-9)

Pinpoint accuracy by Shakeel. He sinks to his knees and sweeps the ball straight to Overton, who doesn’t need to twitch a whisker on the boundary.


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39th over: Pakistan 186-8 (Shakeel 53, Shaheen Afridi 14) A thick edge to third man brings Shakeel his first ODI fifty - well played! He changes his gloves and Overton races back in, a loping figure as he approaches the crease, imagine a lone wolf on a distant prairie. He beats Shakeel with his final ball, a beauty.

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38th over: Pakistan 179-8 ( Shakeel 47, Shaheen Afridi 13) And another Parky over passes by, four dots two singles and some tumbleweed.

37th over: Pakistan 177-8 ( Shakeel 46, Shaheen Afridi 12) A clip brings a Shakeel, then a rather charming extra-cover drive for four. When is the final push coming? Better to die trying.

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35th over: Pakistan 171-8 ( Shakeel 40, Shaheen Afridi 10) Parkinson’s return must bring runs. Shakeel takes a single - is it being left to the tall and muscular Shaheen Afridi? No, a single there too. They pick five from the over, aided by a misfield by Vince.

34th over: Pakistan 166-8 (Shakeel 39, Shaheen Afridi 8) A stylish stroke through the covers from Shaheen Afridi brings four off Overton, who has been good today.

A great call from the commentators on Sky, who say that England should send Dan Lawrence back to Essex to get some red-ball cricket, especially with Ollie Pope doubtful for the beginning of the India series.

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34th over: Pakistan 160-8 ( Shakeel 38, Shaheen Afridi 3) Just two off the excellent Mahmood as this game threatens to die a slow death. Mahmood’s figures now 8-0-21-2.

33rd over: Pakistan 156-8 ( Shakeel 36, Shaheen Afridi 2) The football chants are echoing round Lord’s now which won’t be music to everyone’s ears. Carse sends down an accurate six balls, and Pakistan can only pick up three runs.

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32nd over: Pakistan 155-8 (Shakeel 35, Shaheen Afridi 1) The man, Mahmood, is back and manages to persuade Ben Stokes that they should review a ball that no-one else thinks has got an edge. The review proves only that Shaheen has got nowhere near it. Two from the over.

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31st over: Pakistan 153-8 (Shakeel 34, Shaheen Afridi 0 They paused briefly for drinks, but it wasn’t enough to give Hasan Ali the luck to take Pakistan over the line. Carse turned out to be more difficult to dispatch to the boundary than Parkinson, and Hasan Ali paid the price. A happy Carse celebrates his first wicket for England!

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WICKET! Hasan Ali c Overton b Carse 31 (Pakistan 152-8)

A swipe too many sails high but this time into the hands of Overton at fine leg. Brilliant while it lasted. And a first England wicket for Carse.

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30th over: Pakistan 148-7 (Shakeel 33, Hasan Ali 29) Hasan Ali, emboldened by his five wickets, decides full-blooded attack is the better part of valour and dispatches Parkinson for a four and three consecutive sixes into the pinking Lord’s sky: big, bigger, bigger, bigger, best! Pakistan now need a gettable, if unlikely, 100 from 102 balls.

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29th over: Pakistan 124-7 (Shakeel 32, Hasan Ali 6) Carse is back, Hasan Ali top-edges him over the top of Simpson who tumbles in his leap and the ball wobbles over the boundary. Another handful of singles, including a old-style periscope shot with the head eyes-down and the bat pointing to heaven. Stokes smiles and strides about - he’s enjoying this.

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28th over: Pakistan 119-7 (Shakeel 32, Hasan Ali 1) And Parkinson nearly has a second as Simpson swipes off the bails with Saud stretching forward. The umpires have a look upstairs, but his toes are just back over the line.

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WICKET! Faheem c Simpson b Parkinson 1 (Pakistan 118-7)

Wow! Superlative from Simpson, who intuitively moves to his right as Faheem drops onto his knees to sweep and gathers the cherry pip in his gloves, now standing in exactly the right place.

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27th over: Pakistan 118-6 (Shakeel 32, Faheem 1) Gregory, short, stocky, dark hair cut close to his head. Faheem can’t resist a dangerous flick off his legs but it falls just short of Ben Duckett at deep square.

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26th over: Pakistan 116-6 (Shakeel 31, Faheem 0) Parkinson whizzes through an over, and just a single comes off it.

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25th over: Pakistan 115-6 (Shakeel 30) The new Compton and Edrich stands sit angst-free, as if they’ve always been there. Shadab has a swing at Gregory and the ball flies past a statuesque Crawley, who dives to his right at first slip but the ball is half a hand width away. Then an unnecessary swipe by Shadab to a short ball.

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WICKET! Shadab c Parkinson b Gregory 21 (Pakistan 115-6)

An upper-cut sir? Ah, bad call. It flies straight to Parkinson who waits, waits, and finally takes it softly with both hands down at third man.

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24th over: Pakistan 106-5 (Shadab 15 , Shakeel 27) I thought Pakistan might get after Parky, but no, they can’t afford a dart and they only take two. The mid-innings lull.

23rd over: Pakistan 106-5 (Shadab 15, Shakeel 27) Stokes brings back Gregory, who is eased for five by the Pakistan batsmen to the murmur of the Lord’s crowd - who were in fuller voice before, singing Three Lions.

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22nd over: Pakistan 100-5 (Shadab 11 , Shakeel 25) Aha, here we have the leg-spin of Parkinson. Little, blond, energetic - a challenge for Simpson who will have never kept to him before this series. They pick up four singles, but it is not enough.

21st over: Pakistan 97-5 (Shadab 10, Shakeel 23) Yum! Shadab drives square for a boundary off Carse, a second four comes from an over-pitched globe, tipped off his toes to the midwicket boundary.

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20th over: Pakistan 87-5 (Shadab 1, Shakeel 22) England now have a 79 per cent chance of winning according to WinViz. I propose the percentage is even higher. There has been no weak link for Pakistan to exploit.

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WICKET! Maqsood c Simpson b Overton 19 (Pakistan 86-5)

Super-smart from Simpson, running away from the stumps and catching the ball over his head - as Maqsood is suckered by the short ball.

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19th over: Pakistan 86-4 (Maqsood 19, Shakeel 22) Must be nearly time for Parkinson as Shakeel helps himself to Carse, one through the empty cover region for four. They pick ten more off the over and Pakistan are beginning to look at ease for the first time in this match.

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18th over: Pakistan 76-4 (Maqsood 18, Shakeel 13) Two huge sixes off Overton cheer up the large Pakistan contingent in the crowd. Big ones, into the leg side, on the whim of Maqsood. Fifteen from the over.

17th over: Pakistan 61-4 (Maqsood 4, Shakeel 13) Shakeel steps outside leg stump and tries to send Carse to the boundary, managing only a single to third man. They pick up a couple more twos.

“Hello,” hello Tom vd Gucht. “I feel like I’ve read a lot about how hard it is to break into the England whiteball batting line-up, but I’d be interested to see a newspaper run one of those pleasing Infographics where they rank and compare the comparative strength of all the batters and bowlers fighting for selection. The bowlers seem to have been on fire this year.”

I think England are bowler heavy too: Archer(recovering), Mahmood, Stone (injury permitting), Overton, Woakes, Robsinson all in the wings.

16th over: Pakistan 56-4 (Maqsood 3, Shakeel 9) Sussex’s Rob Andrew squints in from the smoked salmon seats as Overton sends down another maiden. England were 110-2 at the same stage.

15th over: Pakistan 56-4 (Maqsood 3, Shakeel 9) Maqsood is not impressed by this snail-like Pakistan innings and thumps a couple off Carse, who is otherwise immaculate.

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14th over: Pakistan 54-4 (Maqsood 1, Shakeel 9) Overton is giving Pakistan no light relief. They managed a couple of singles, but Fakhar’s inability to get the ball to the boundary was his undoing.

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WICKET! Fakhar b Overton 10 (Pakistan 53-4)

A frustrated Fakhar can bear it no longer, and has a go at an excellent ball which slides through the gap between bat and pad. He made a very uncharacteristic 10 from 45 balls.

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13th over: Pakistan 51-3 (Fakhar 9, Shakeel 8) That was Mahmood’s last over, as Carse has his first bowl of the match. He’s tall, slim, a light gold chain round his neck. A shirt-untucked man. Bowling at about 87, 88mph. Frustrated, Fakhar takes a half-cut single off the last ball but Carse can’t hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end.

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12th over: Pakistan 49-3 (Fakhar 8, Shakeel 8) Overton, economical again, with just one from the over, as Fakhar sends the ball to deep square.

11th over: Pakistan 48-3 (Fakhar 7, Shakeel 8) Mahmood gets another over, perhaps one too many as it goes for 10, including four leg byes and a leg glance for four from Shakeel.

“Rizwan was substituted as wicketkeeper during the first innings. Any idea why?” asks John Starbuck. “Is he moving OK just now?” I don’t know I’m afraid John, but he seemed OK in his short (11-ball) innings.

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10th over: Pakistan 38-3 (Fakhar 7, Shakeel 2) A bowling change, as Overton replaces Gregory. His first is a maiden. As a comparison, England were 72-2 at the end of their PowerPlay.

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9th over: Pakistan 38-3 (Fakhar 7, Shakeel 2) The King is (not at all) dead - long live the King! Mahmood is international-ready. Ball after ball, on the button, moving just enough, off the seam, in, away. Magic. Four slips await the unfortunate Shakeel: Crawley, Malan... I’ll identify the other two in a minute.

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WICKET! Rizwan c Simpson b Mahmood 5 (Pakistan 36-3)

Beautiful! Rizwan, unsure what the ball is going to do, pushes forward, gets an outside edge and is still in that position as the ball is gathered by Simpson.

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8th over: Pakistan 35-2 (Fakhar 6, Rizwan 5) Three dots from Gregory are followed by a no-ball. Rizwan doesn’t get hold of the free hit properly and just sends it out on a leisurely trip to deep midwicket for a single. Frustrated, Fakhar dances down the pitch and swings, getting a towering top edge that falls just short of Saqib Mahmood.

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7th over: Pakistan 31-2 (Fakhar 4, Rizwan 4) Fakhar has a ping at Saqib but succeeds only in getting a top edge to third man; then he beats him, smooching at the inside edge. This is the Saqib that cut through Yorkshire on the last day of the Roses match at Old Trafford. Pakistan must just see him off, not worry about getting after him.

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6th over: Pakistan 30-2 (Fakhar 3, Rizwan 4) Rizwan plays out three dot balls before pushing Gregory down the ground, 100 per cent pure timing, and it speeds past Parkinson to the boundary.

5th over: Pakistan 25-2 (Fakhar 2, Rizwan 0) Mahmood showing his wares - all those tricks he has picked up from James Anderson in the Old Trafford dressing room. Three slips await, as he shaves one past Fakhar’s outside edge down the slope and then grabs Babar again - with a banger. Greets Rizwan with a twister which flies off the pitch.

WICKET! Babar Azam lbw Mahmood 19 (Pakistan 25-2)

Beautiful from Mahmood! Hits Babar slam on the pad with one that seams in. Babar reviews, with encouragement, but there is no bat involved and the review only shows the way back to the pavilion.

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4th over: Pakistan 24-1 (Fakhar 1, Babar Azam 19) A more expensive over from Gregory. He oversteps, and Babar swings him past square leg for four. A free hit follows, which is swatted to the leg-side boundary. Then an on drive so delicious it should be served with a side of lavender shortbread and a cup of earl grey.

3rd over: Pakistan 10-1 (Fakhar 0, Babar Azam 7) The batsmen have to adapt to the change in pace from Gregory to Mahmood. It isn’t too much of a problem for Babar as Saqib send down a wide full toss. Babar delivers it to the boundary, on one knee, down towards the grand stand. Saqib beats him with his penultimate ball as Babar goes for a a lavish drive and comes within a hair of an edge.

2nd over: Pakistan 5-1 (Fakhar 0, Babar Azam 3) A smashing ball from Gregory takes the wicket, he squares Babar up with his second ball, zipping down the slope as if it has a mind of its own. Gregory and Babar both smile, old Somerset colleagues. A misfield brings Babar his first runs.

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WICKET! Imam c Simpson b Gregory 1 (Pakistan 1-1)

Imam takes a sensible stride forward and catches an edge as the ball moves across him.

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1st over: Pakistan 1-0 (Imam ul-Haq 1, Fakhar 0) Mahmood, fresh from his success in the first match, takes the new ball. He’s got a tight blue sleeve/bandage on his right arm. Fakhar squints and scowls under his helmet. Mahmood is on the button immediately: on a length, back of a length.

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Here come the players!

England 247 all out

An innings of peaks and troughs. Failures by Crawley and Malan were more than compensated for by a brusque and superlative cameo by Phil Salt, and the usual silken grace from James Vince. The pair put on a pretty 97 off 80 balls. The innings faded again until Gregory and Carse came together and put on another 69. Beautiful bowling by Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi, who deserved more than the one wicket. They take a quick break now, back soon.

WICKET! Mahmood c Rauf b Hasan Ali 8. England 247 all out

Mahmood delivers the ball straight to deep square leg, where Rauf gladly accepts. Hasan Ali kisses the turf (5 for 51, best figures by a Pakistan bowler in an ODI at Lord’s) and is told off by the umpires for an illegal incursion . He has a quick chunter, then leads the players off to huge applause.

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45th over: England 245-9 (Mahmood 8, Parkinson 6) Saqib somehow gets bat on ball against a Rauf yorker and sends it spinning away for four. Parkinson steps away and wedges a short ball into the offside. Two overs left of this rain-shortened match.

44th over: England 240-9 (Mahmood 3, Parkinson 5) Not convinced that Mahmood and Parkinson are a match for Hasan Ali. He licks his lips, thinking of a five-fer. Mahmood has a crazed swing. Parkinson squeezes out a yorker and somehow brings a cheeky boundary. Another yorker is stopped with a prayer.

43rd over: England 235-9 (Mahmood 2, Parkinson 1) A terrible drop a mid-on by Faheem as Mahmood, emboldened by the entrance of his Lancashire teammate, decides to have a pop.

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WICKET! Carse b Rauf 31 (England 233-9)

A full blooded, pistol twirling, swing of the bat brings an inside edge onto the stumps

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42nd over: England 233-8 (Mahmood 1, Carse 31) Hasan Ali is back. He thinks he’s got Carse from a caught behind; Rizwan isn’t so sure but they go for it. Sure enough, a chink of daylight between bat and pad.

41st over: England 230-8 (Mahmood 0, Carse 29) Saqib watches his first ball from Rauf whizz past, like a child watching a car drive past before practising crossing the road. Pakistan should be able to put this to bed quickly now.

WICKET! Gregory c Fakhar b Rauf 40 (England 229-8)

Gregory fly-swats a short ball to deep square leg.

40th over: England 229-7 (Gregory 40, Carse 27) Shadab skips in from the Nursery End. Carse and Gregory easily tap him for five. No problems. No stress. No risks. One of the Pakistan fielders, I can’t quite catch which, has got sensational lime green cricket boots.

39th over: England 224-7 (Gregory 38, Carse 26) Gregory is doing for England what he has done so many times for Somerset. Rescuing the top order. Or as Keith Channel puts it.“Blimey. Gregory has got a move on...”

38th over: England 219-7 (Gregory 34 Carse 29) Faheem continues to bleed runs: a pulled four through backward square, a swish through mid-on, a couple of quick singles. Pakistan are letting the initiative drip down the plug hole

37th over: England 210-7 (Gregory 26, Carse 24) After an expensive first spell Rauf is back. Gregory eyes him up, stands, and thwacks a short ball to the mid-wicket boundary. Happy days. That’s the fifty partnership up off 57 balls.

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36th over: England 203-7 (Gregory 21, Carse 23) A boundary! A clip off the legs from Carse takes England over 200. Afridi skims past with his penultimate and final balls, but Gregory and Carse are slowly building this back for England.

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35th over: England 196-7 (Gregory 20, Carse 17) Faheem continues to be tricky to score off off. Gregory and Carse happy to just push for singles, although having typed that, Gregory pulls out a lovely extra-cover drive, stopped, just, on the rope.

Smashing stat:

Five of England's top 6 were bowled out today - only the 5th time in all formats than 5 of England's top 6 have had their timbers tumbled in an innings since 1908. https://t.co/NSqxgM00vM

— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) July 10, 2021

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34th over: England 192-7 (Gregory 17, Carse 16) Shaheen Shah Afridi comes back into the attack, thick black wristbands wrapped round his forearms, high hazlenut hair. He beats Carse all over and fancies the review, but Babar Azam doesn’t oblige.

33rd over: England 189-7 (Gregory 16, Carse 14) Faheem returns to the attack, in front of a full Lord’s and dreary skies. Ashley Giles and Chris Silverwood are spotted by the camera making furtive conversation by the corner of the balcony. Carse somehow doesn’t chop onto his stump, after misjudging Faheem’s fourth ball. His fifth zips through the gap between Carse’s belly and bat and cuts him in half.

32nd over: England 188-7 (Gregory 15, Carse 14) Thanks Tim, enjoy the concert! This is something of a surprise for England, to have the big fast bowlers batting as early as the 32nd over. Six off Rauf’s over, most of them through the slips or point.

31st over: England 182-7 (Gregory 12, Carse 11) Shadab bowls his ninth over in a row and is unlucky as he bamboozles Carse, only to see the resulting nick squirt past slip for four. This partnership is already 22, off 20 balls: a nice little counter-attack. And that’s me done for now – I need to watch my nephew play the piano on Zoom, as you do. It’s over to Tanya, and I’ll hope to see you later, because it’ll mean we have a good contest.

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30th over: England 175-7 (Gregory 11, Carse 5) Hasan is still on, and why not with four wickets to his name – but Gregory is composed enough to spot a short one and crack it through the covers for four. And then he does it again! The plot could do with a twist. And that’s drinks, with Pakistan well on top.

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29th over: England 164-7 (Gregory 2, Carse 3) Shadab is still on, mixing dots with singles, and England are in a hole. They will be doing very well if they make it to 47 overs.

28th over: England 161-7 (Gregory 1, Carse 1) It’s a tough moment for Brydon Carse, coming out for his first international innings at a time when he must have barely put his pads on, but he keeps calm and dabs Hasan to third man for a single.

Wicket! Overton c Rizwan b Hasan 0 (England 160-7)

Another one! Overton gets a nick, the finger stays down, but Pakistan review and they’re absolutely right.

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Wicket!! Simpson b Hasan 17 (England 160-6)

Hasan’s on fire, spearing a full-length nip-backer through the gate and seeing it thud into middle stump. You can’t blame John Simpson, who played a couple of good strokes and didn’t hang around, using up only 19 balls. But England are now looking like the makeshift team they are.

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27th over: England 159-5 (Simpson 17, Gregory 1) Shadab is bowling a full length with six men in the ring, and there’s not much England can do about it as they regroup. Lewis Gregory, the cut-price Chris Woakes, gets off the mark with a clip into the leg side.

26th over: England 156-5 (Simpson 15, Gregory 0) Well bowled Hasan Ali, coming back, taking the big wicket and conceding only one off that over. The tale of three duos continues.

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Wicket!! STOKES b Hasan Ali 22 (England 156-5)

Stokes goes for the big yahoo – and misses! The off bail is sent flying and that’s a huge scalp for Hasan Ali.

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25th over: England 155-4 (Stokes 22, Simpson 14) That narrow escape seems to have done Simpson some good. Facing Shadab, he plays a handsome cover-drive for four, like Jos Buttler in the mirror. Just past the halfway stage, this is anyone’s game.

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24th over: England 148-4 (Stokes 22, Simpson 7) Shaheen continues and finds the edge, as Simpson plays a tentative push at a ball that’s holding its line – but it flies between the keeper and the only slip, who is wider than usual.

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23rd over: England 143-4 (Stokes 22, Simpson 2) Shadab keeps it tight until his last ball, a long-hop that gets what it deserves as Stokes belts it for four.

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22nd over: England 137-4 (Stokes 17, Simpson 1) It’s all about Stokes now. Pakistan spring a surprise by bringing back Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Stokes is watchful, classical, driving into the ring, before he cuts for a single to the cover sweeper. Simpson, left-handed like Stokes, is off the mark with a square drive, also for a single.

The bowling today has been a tale of three duos: Shaheen and Hasan Ali were good (2 for 50 off nine overs so far), Faheem and Haris were wayward (0 for 58 off six), and Shadab and Shakeel have been terrific, apart from one ball (2 for 29 off seven).

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21st over: England 134-4 (Stokes 15, Simpson 0) So John Simpson comes out for a first international innings at the grand old age of 32. And Shakeel gets past the outside edge again! So that’s a wicket maiden – great stuff.

Wicket!! Vince b Shadab 56 (England 134-4)

Noooo! Vince gets smothered by Shadab, with four dots and a play-and-miss, and ends up playing a nothing shot to a googly and getting bowled. What a shame.

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20th over: England 134-3 (Vince 56, Stokes 15) Shakeel blots his copybook with a half-tracker, and Stokes swings it for six into the Mound stand as if this was the World Cup final all over again.

“Thanks for the coverage - excellent as usual,” says Nicholas Butler. Pleasure! “Just wondering regarding the omission of Alex Hales - is the ECB’s mission to develop cricket in England and Wales and to have successful international teams, or is it just to pander to Eoin Morgan’s apparently fragile ego?” Oof.

“Teams across the world seem to have enjoyed great success despite the alleged burden of having Hales in the team, but are we to believe that the England squad is made up of such snowflakes that they will wilt and be unable to perform if Hales is in the squad? If we want to win shouldn’t we have the best players in the team? Shame on the ECB and Ashley Giles for not being able to grow a pair and stand up to the apparently vindictive attitude of Morgan.” That’s a bit harsh, but I agree that it’s gone too far. There should have been a proper process – which would have given Hales a ban, but not as long as the one he has ended up serving.

19th over: England 126-3 (Vince 55, Stokes 8) Straight bat? Stokes brings out the reverse sweep! And it’s a good one, fizzing away for four, and forcing a field change, which then allows an easy two into the covers. And if anyone can persuade Vince to hang in there and get a hundred, Stokes can. This is already Vince’s highest score in ODIs.

18th over: England 119-3 (Vince 54, Stokes 1) Out comes Ben Stokes, to a suitably warm ovation. He tends to start with a straight bat and he gets off the mark with a nice easy push to long-off.

Wicket! Salt b Shakeel 60 (England 118-3)

The frustration tells! Salt goes across to the off to sweep, but the ball comes on a bit quicker and there’s a clink of timber. Well bowled Shakeel, who collects his first wicket – and well played Phil Salt, making a first fine fearless fifty.

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17th over: England 116-2 (Salt 59, Vince 54) Shadab continues and both batsmen are getting frustrated, chipping over the ring without finding the rope. But they’re still running like dervishes and they pick up six off the over.

16th over: England 110-2 (Salt 55, Vince 52) Haris Rauf thinks he’s getting another over, but a late change of heart means it’s spin from both ends, as Saud Shakeel comes on with his slow left-arm. He starts well too, spinning his first ball past Vince’s outside edge and conceding only three.

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15th over: England 107-2 (Salt 53, Vince 51) Time for some spin, in the form of Shadab Khan’s leg-breaks. He manages to put the plug in, conceding just two singles, and may even have Vince dropped by Rizwan behind the stumps – a tough chance that hits the keeper’s pads.

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Here’s Tom Bowtell. “After the papers collectively failed to go with my suggested headline of ‘Harrys and the Henderson’ after the Ukraine match, I hope I will have better luck in flogging ‘Spicy Salt peppers the boundary’. Guardian obviously gets first dibs.” Well Tom, you are one of our more seasoned correspondents.

14th over: England 105-2 (Salt 52, Vince 50) The landmarks are piling up. Salt’s nick also brought up the England hundred, off 13.3 overs. And then Vince plays a flick-cut for four, just over the man at point, to bring up his fifty. Vince took 36 balls, Salt 41, and that’s drinks with England, and the bold type, flying.

Fifty to Salt!

Salt plays one of his worst strokes, a big thick nick off Haris Rauf, but there’s no slip now and it flies away for four. So that’s a first international fifty for Salt, who missed out on debut and didn’t let it bother him in the slightest.

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13th over: England 96-2 (Salt 47, Vince 46) Vince, facing Faheem, is on the pull again – and flirting with danger. First he hits the ball well, but only just short of the man at deep square, who can’t handle a half-volley; then he gets a top edge, but it’s four more. Fortune favours the lordly. The last five overs have brought 49 runs, 37 of them to Vince.

12th over: England 84-2 (Salt 46, Vince 35) Vince plays a little dab to third man and does very well to come back for two, which allows him to cut the next ball for a sumptuous four. He’s out of the 20s! The sky is now the limit.

11th over: England 75-2 (Salt 46, Vince 26) Any ball that’s not a four is a victory for Pakistan at the moment, and Faheem manages six of them. He’s bowling cutters and finding the inside edge, if not the outside one.

“Tim,” says Andrew Benton, “You often respond to comments with a ‘Ha!’. Are you limbering up to cover the Olympic weightlifting. I’d have though a ‘Huurrrrgh’ might be better preparation but there’s still a couple of weeks to go ...” Ha!

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10th over: England 72-2 (Salt 45, Vince 24) On comes Haris Rauf, the fourth seamer. He’s just seen the third seamer start by dropping short and suffering for it, so he ... does the same. Vince plays that lordly pull of his, and that’s the fourth four in four balls. Another short one, but better, sharper, and Salt misses it as his eyes light up. Then Haris bowls a really good ball, a lifter in the corridor, and Salt is relieved to find it sailing over his gloves. But when Haris overpitches, Salt is ready with that cover-blast of his, and he brings up the fifty partnership off just 5.5 overs.

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9th over: England 63-2 (Salt 41, Vince 19) Shaheen gives way to Faheem Ashraf, who starts with a long-hop and pays for it as Salt swats it past midwicket to bring up England’s fifty. A couple of dots, and then Salt bludgeons through the covers. When Faheem bowls an off-cutter, Salt goes hard and gets an inside edge for four more, and then straight-drives for yet another four. That’s eight fours from him already. “He’s a pinch hitter,” says David Lloyd. “A pinch of Salt!”

Updated

8th over: England 47-2 (Salt 25, Vince 19) Vince, not to be outdone, dances down the track at Hasan and off-drives for four. Next he’s expecting a short ball, and it duly arrives, so he pulls it for four, with real authority. And then he nicks one – but gets away with it as his hitting has seen off second slip. “This is proper ODI cricket,” says Dinesh Karthik.

7th over: England 36-2 (Salt 25, Vince 9) Salt, regaining the strike after a lull, decides not to throw the kitchen sink at Shaheen: instead, he steps away to leg and launches the whole kitchen. The stroke is technically a cut, but I’d call it more of a flay. He adds a flick for two. As an understudy, he’s doing his best to make Jason Roy look measured.

Updated

6th over: England 29-2 (Salt 19, Vince 8) Hasan starts his over by going wide outside off and Vince square-drives it for four. There’s a touch of majesty about that, as there so often is with Vince, on his way to another classy 20. He picks up a couple, less regally, off an inside edge, and a quick single off the pads.

Updated

5th over: England 22-2 (Salt 19, Vince 1) So Malan and Crawley, who made 126 between them on Thursday without being out, have made 0 for 2 today. And England have already lost more wickets in this innings than they did in that one. James Vince edges and gets away with it as the ball doesn’t quite carry to Shadab, diving to his left at second slip. Vince pushes a single into the covers, the first run off the bat not made by Salt. Pakistan, so poor on Thursday, are themselves again.

Wicket! Crawley b Shaheen 0 (England 21-2)

Another yorker! And it brushes Crawley’s off stump. That’s a golden duck for the guy who, against Pakistan, is usually England’s golden boy.

Updated

4th over: England 21-1 (Salt 19, Crawley 0) Salt keeps the strike and he’s still not finding the gaps – so he doubles down, giving Hasan the charge and blasting it back past him, then chipping over mid-on for two. Hasan bowls a no-ball and handles the free hit shrewdly, keeping Salt quiet with a yorker. Hasan likes it so much he tries another yorker, but Salt flicks it for two. He has 19 off 19 and Crawley still hasn’t faced a ball.

Updated

3rd over: England 12-1 (Salt 11, Crawley 0) Before the review, Salt picked up two off his hip, running hard with Crawley as England did on Thursday. After it, undaunted, he keeps going hard at the ball, but finds the fielders in the ring. And he’s dropped at backward point, by Imam-ul-Haq, tipping the ball round the post like Jordan Pickford.

Lord’s, full again for the first time in nearly two years, has got that lovely buzz in the air, as if thousands of people were humming.

Not out! Salt survives

Nothing on UltraEdge.

Wicket!? Salt given caught behind off Shaheen

Salt pulls again, there’s a noise and Shaheen’s convinced he’s got a nick, so is the umpire... but Salt reviews.

2nd over: England 9-1 (Salt 8, Crawley 0) That was a masterly over from Hasan Ali. Two inside edges, one play-and-miss, and then the tempter, drawing the edge and removing the man most likely to make a big score.

Wicket! Malan c Shadab b Hasan 0 (England 9-1)

Gone for none! Malan goes hard at a full delivery and gives a simple nick to second slip.

Updated

1st over: England 8-0 (Salt 8, Malan 0) Shaheen Shah Afridi opens the bowling, left-arm fast. Phil Salt got out to him in Cardiff, but he’s not bothered about that. He straight-drives him for four, then plays and misses at the same ball he got out to - and then pulls for four more. That was a great shot, off what was almost a length ball outside off. Salt has a big smile on his face, and a career-best for England.

“In a strange way,” says Tom van der Gucht, “I’ve often fantasised about the England team being laid low by some kind of illness on the eve of a match only for a team of reserves to be called up. I was slightly disappointed by the team that was selected as I’d always hoped there would be a bit more nostalgic drama with old war horses called out of retirement to buoy up callow young guns – a bit like Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman alongside the youngster in Unforgiven ... Darren Stevens, Bopara, Cook, Finn, Batty ... Instead we got a ruthlessly professional unit who seemed to be well-drilled and understood the assignment.” Most unsporting.

Nasser Hussain is showing us the pitch. “There is some rolled-in grass here, and I do think it’ll do a bit.” His voice turns stern. “Don’t lose wickets in your PowerPlay!” Nasser’s an excellent commentator, but that’s the voice of the 1990s, when England were not very good at one-day cricket. Yes, Pakistan lost too many batters early on in Thursday’s game, but there’s no point in Phil Salt going out there and blocking.

A message from the stands. “The conditions have been 100% playable since 11am,” an MCC member writes. “Inexplicable. Why does cricket do this to itself? It is bright and dry. The crowd is jovial but mystified.”

Teams: no change

England stick with a winning team, as expected, so “they go from 11 changes to none,” as Nasser Hussain puts it. And Pakistan show faith in a losing team.

England 1 Phil Salt, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Zak Crawley, 4 James Vince, 5 Ben Stokes (capt), 6 John Simpson (wkt), 7 Lewis Gregory, 8 Craig Overton, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Matt Parkinson.

Pakistan 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wkt), 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Sohaib Maqsood, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11 Haris Rauf.

Toss: Pakistan win and bowl

Babar Azam calls right and clenches his fist in delight. He’ll have a bowl, as any captain would.

It's now a 47-over match...

... starting at 12.30pm, all being well, with the toss at 12.10.

The covers are still on, light rain is falling, and it’s clearly going to be a shortened game. Overs begin to be lost if there’s no play by 12 noon, which is now a certainty as they haven’t had the toss yet. Lord’s has good drainage, but this forecast is warning of another two hours’ rain.

It’s all happening: now we have an email. ”Morning Tim.” Morning, Brian Withington. “Surely a record multiple factor for caps for a single player, Ben Stokes (100), versus the rest of the team (20?). Strange days indeed, as someone from Liverpool once sang.” Ha. This squad have been sent to show us roughly how John Lennon would have sounded if he’d been accompanied by Pete Best, Stu Sutcliffe and Eric Griffiths. There has to be a chance that they’ll be a one-hit wonder.

Updated

Here we don't go

Guess what? It’s raining again, quite hard, and the covers are coming back on.

The toss has now moved to 11.15am. The drama – sometimes it’s all too much.

England are holding another cap ceremony – not for a debutant, but for their only senior player. It’s Ben Stokes’s 100th one-day international. The squad stand in a circle as Ashley Giles makes a little speech and hands over a commemorative cap. Someone says something and Stokes bursts out laughing.

Updated

They're coming off!

The covers, that is. The rain seems to have stopped, though the St John’s Wood sky is still a deep grey. As things stand, the start of play will be at 11.30am, with the toss at 11.

No toss yet

With football gripping the nation, how can cricket possibly compete? By doing what it does best: having a rain delay. There’s a light shower at Lord’s, and it’s expected to turn heavy. But the good news is that the forecast now has the skies clearing around noon, rather than 3pm.

Preamble: Ben's big day

Morning everyone and welcome to the OBO. Today, England’s World Cup-winning team return to the scene of their triumph for the first time. It’s coming, it’s coming – right, that’s enough of that. Since their epic encounter with New Zealand, two years ago next week, England’s cricketers have played three Tests at Lord’s, but no white-ball matches. They would never have guessed that the most famous ground in the world would miss out on a whole summer, spurned in favour of grounds with hotels attached. Nor would they have suspected that when they eventually returned, only one of their World Cup winners would be on board.

So this is a big moment for Ben Stokes, making his 100th appearance in ODIs and captaining England for the first time at Lord’s, in front of cricket’s first full house since lockdown. He likes it here, at least when there’s a bat in his hand: his last five innings for England at Lord’s, all in 2019, were 89, 84 not out, 9 not out, 13 and 115 not out, adding up to 310 runs at an average of 155. The 9 didn’t count in the official records, which is beyond ridiculous because it was scored, off four balls, in the Super Over of the World Cup final – possibly the greatest pressure-cooker in the history of cricket.

On Thursday in Cardiff, Stokes’s motley new crew gelled so well that he didn’t have to take a wicket or face a ball. Was it beginners’ luck, with Babar Azam’s talented Pakistan team getting caught cold? Did it suggest that behind every great squad there’s another one denied a decent chance? Or does it just mean that the solution to the eternal puzzle of England selection is to pick Stokes and any ten others?

The second match in the series will go some way to answering these questions, as long as the weather doesn’t ruin it for the crowd. The forecast is for rain in the first half of the day, clearing by about 3, so we may only get about 60 overs in – but that’s all that was needed in Cardiff. Play starts, in theory, at 11am UK time. I’ll be back around 10.35 with an update, and maybe even with the toss and teams.

Updated

Contributors

Tim de Lisle (earlier) and Tanya Aldred (later)

The GuardianTramp

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