England win toss, bowl first in tri-series match against Pakistan

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Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi (L) and his England counterpart Harry Brook exchange a light moment during the toss ahead of their One-day International tri-series match at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on October 20, 2026.--Courtesy PCB
Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi (L) and his England counterpart Harry Brook exchange a light moment during the toss ahead of their One-day International tri-series match at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on October 20, 2026.--Courtesy PCB

England captain Harry Brook won the toss and opted to field first ahead of the One-day International tri-series opener at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

Pakistan enter the fixture at the back of a 37-run over Sri Lanka in the opening match of the tri-series and would be looking to strengthen their position for an eventual place in the October 31 final.

Losing the toss also against Sri Lanka, Pakistan bowlers were made to work hard in the second innings as heavy dew fell over the venue before a late collapse cost the high-flying visitors the match.

Brook termed dew as the main reason behind his decision and hoped his team would restrict Pakistan and chase down the total with ease.

The major chunk of Pakistan’s 305-run first-innings score against Sri Lanka came from Salman Ali Agha, whose rich vein of form in ODIs continued.

While Salman flourished, former Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and debutant wicket-keeper Saad Baig showed signs of form as well as they put up 74-run partnership.

Openers Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub, however, departed early and would be under the radar against England as they look to give Pakistan, who went into match with an unchanged XI, a flying start.

Teams:

PAKISTAN: Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Saad Baig (wicket-keeper), 5 Salman Ali Agha, Hasan Nawaz, Arafat Minhas, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah

ENGLAND: Tom Banton, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook (captain), 5 Jordan Cox (wicket-keeper), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid, Sonny Baker

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