Pakistan battters ready to take revenge from England in 4th IT20 today

Pakistan and England will play thjeir fourth T20 today at Karachi International Cricket Staidum as Pakistan is all set to take revenge from the hosts who are leading the series with 2-1. 

Pitch and conditions

Evening conditions have cooled down slightly in Karachi, though it remains fairly humid. A fresh pitch will be used for this game.

Team news

Naseem Shah might return as Pakistan look to level the series, while the middle order could face a reshuffle as the hosts search for their best combination. Shadab will be expected to come in at some stage, and, if available, would slot straight in for Qadir.

Pakistan (probable): 1 Babar Azam (capt) 2 Mohammad Rizwan/Mohammad Haris (wk) 3 Haider Ali 4 Shan Masood 5 Iftikhar Ahmed 6 Khushdil Shah/Asif Ali 7 Mohammad Nawaz 8 Shadab Khan/Usman Qadir 9 Mohammad Hasnain 10 Naseem Shah 11 Haris Rauf

England didn't train on Saturday and would be expected to make a couple of changes for the fourth T20I. Mark Wood will likely be rested after his explosive burst on Friday, with Tom Helm or Olly Stone the likeliest replacements. Hales may also return despite Jacks' impressive debut. David Willey might come in if Sam Curran gets a rest.

England: 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Alex Hales/Will Jacks, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Duckett, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali (capt), 7 Sam Curran/David Willey, 8 Liam Dawson 9 Reece Topley, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Olly Stone

Stats and trivia

Babar is 97 away from 3,000 T20I career runs. Only four batters - Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Martin Guptill and Paul Stirling have reached that mark.
Malan hasn't enjoyed playing against Pakistan. In nine T20Is, he averages 18.87 against them, down from a career average of 37.05, and strikes at 106.33, while his career strike rate is 137.61.

Olly Stone set for T20I debut in fourth match against Pakistan

Olly Stone looks set to make his T20I debut for England in the fourth game against Pakistan on Sunday night in Karachi. Stone, 28, has won three Test caps and four in ODIs, and is expected complete his set as England look to take a 3-1 lead to Lahore.

He would be England's third T20I debutant on this tour after Luke Wood and Will Jacks. Jordan Cox and Tom Helm are the other uncapped players in the 20-man squad.

Stone has not played professional cricket since July due to a finger injury but has been bowling with good pace in the nets since arriving in Pakistan. He had also impressed in the T20 Blast this summer, taking 13 wickets in ten appearances.
The skiddy pitches that England have encountered at Karachi's National Stadium should suit his bowling, as he is also one of the few bowlers to have dismissed Harry Brook on this tour, knocking back his off stump in one of England's first net sessions.
Stone would be a like-for-like replacement for Mark Wood, who is due to play once in Karachi and twice in Lahore on this tour as England look to manage his return from an elbow injury. Wood admitted to feeling "rank" after taking 3 for 24 in the third T20I on Thursday, his first professional appearance since March.

"Having that long lay-off all summer, last night I felt really tired after four overs," he said. "It's probably about peaking in Australia [during the T20 World Cup], and not blowing a gasket now and being niggly or not at my best then."

Mark Wood: 'I was trying to bowl fast, it could have gone either way'

If you ever need a reminder of Pakistan's fast-bowling culture, a quick glance at the honours board of five-wicket hauls in ODIs at Karachi's National Stadium provides it. The first three names engraved read as follows: Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar.

Mark Wood's name is not on that list just yet but his first outing in Pakistan was enough to set tongues wagging in the way those greats used to, as he nudged 156kph (97mph) on the broadcasters' speed gun. Waqar and Wasim were close at hand, waxing lyrical on commentary about his express pace.

All smiles after that bowling display 😄

🇵🇰#PAKvENG 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/7dpolD1Uti

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 23, 2022

"They are guys I grew up watching," Wood said. "I look up to them a bit so if they give you any praise, you know you must be doing something right. I value their opinion. It seems like this country produces a lot of fast bowlers and when you look at the pitches, their skill level has to be really high to get wickets and they've got that deadly pace as well. They have a mystery about them that makes them deadly."

Wood spent the first two games of the series on the sidelines as England take a cautious approach to his comeback from double elbow surgery, but found himself studying Pakistan's modern-day crop of fast bowlers in a bid to pick up some insight into how to bowl on the low, skiddy surfaces that have been served up.