Brook smashes 81 before Wood wreaks havoc as England beat Pakistan to take 2-1 lead in T20 series

Harry Brook made an astonishing break in international innings and Mark Wood equaled the fastest delivery ever recorded by an English bowler to turn Karachi’s cauldron of noise into a library last night.

Brook’s audacious, unbeaten 81 from just 35 deliveries helped set the bar higher than 24 hours earlier, when Pakistan completed a historic 10-wicket first chase of a 200-run target in Twenty20 internationals.

And with 221 on the board this time, Wood sensationally unleashed the new ball fury England so badly lacked during his six-month hiatus from the elbow injury.

The 32-year-old wreaked havoc in an opening salvo that saw him roll over twice, matching the 97-mph ball that Steve Harmison sent down to sack Glenn McGrath in the 2006-Perth Ashes Test. 07 during the second of the two. and inciting a four wickets spell for 11 runs that drowned out Thursday’s noise.

All doubts about a result placing England 2-1 with four to play were allayed before the end of the power play, which left Pakistan at 29 for four.

Fresh off his undefeated 110, Babar saw a Wood bouncer flash past his nose and led the next delivery straight to the third man. Haider Ali was uncomfortably late on another short pass and was kept on the straight.

In between, Mohammad Rizwan was harassed by Reece Topley, another of England’s three returnees, and when Sam Curran punched one during his first robbery, it caused another fatal miscarriage on the crossbar, this time from Iftikhar Ahmed.

Wood returned to take the wicket from Haris Rauf on death, finishing with numbers of 4-0-25-3.

The dominance of the ball during the latest massive chase in Pakistan was inconsistent with what preceded it.

Brook just didn’t bowl with this imperious touch: he always read the field one step and then played with it, the ball through holes, over fielder’s heads and five times over the boundary rope.

His outlandish batting play came in an unbroken partnership of 139 from just 72 balls with Ben Duckett, the other batter in form on the tour. Only four times before had England finished with more than the 221 for three they had piled up here.

Their reunion in the ninth over was a blessing in itself: Dawid Malan and debutant Will Jacks both left in disbelief that they’d dragged gimme balls to deep midwicket from Pakistani leg spinner Usman Qadir.

Surrey’s Jacks proved more than an ample duty for Alex Hales at the top of the order as England began splitting game time with the 20-man touring company, adopting the no-fear approach encouraged in the early stages of innings to to loft and thrash into holes during a 22-ball 40.

However, Brook took things to another level. Earlier this year, he showed his mastery of these conditions with the second-fastest 100 in the Pakistan Super League and showed the same intent when he lifted Qadir for the first six of the innings.

He also showed no distinction between spin and pace, emphasizing his adaptability by snagging twice over the rope at the long leg and also striking straight after giving himself space.

The only time the 23-year-old Yorkshireman didn’t seem to put the ball exactly where he wanted it to, when he accidentally bobbed one of Haris Rauf’s own body into the grille of his helmet.

Duckett played with the same precision in another fine display of sweep against the Pakistani spinners, and although his own half-century came up seven balls slower than the 24 Brook’s, the impetus was such that Pakistan was tasked with completing their highest previous chase. to exceed 208.

Something that England’s prior work in the field considered fanciful. The tourists planned to stop Wood until the Lahore portion of this trip, but recalled him five days ahead of schedule to bring the pace to their attack that was so bad, as they tried to evict Babar and Rizwan in game two. .

The inclusion of a left arm offered variations on bowling strikes, but this year England have used them as a staple in Twenty20 assignments, and though they got away with playing a trio in the opening match of the series, David Willey, Sam Curran and Luke Wood proved to be the same in the second, with their similar trajectories and speeds.

And on what was a perfect night for English cricket, it was their two players who made the difference.