ISLAMABAD: England won the toss and put Pakistan to bat on Wednesday in the fifth T20 international match of the seven-match series in Lahore.
The two sides are playing each other at the Gaddafi Stadium after Pakistan levelled the series 2-2 with last week's enthralling win.
"Looks a good wicket, don't think it's going to change," Moeen Ali, England skipper, said at the toss. "Most important is to win the game, fantastic series so far. Great to be a part of, got to be on your A game against Pakistan."
Pakistan captain Babar Azam conceded he would have opted to bowl first too, had he won the toss.
"Lots of positive things, got to step up for the World Cup," he said.
England have made four changes to their playing XI; Dawid Malan, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood are back in the playing XI of the squad.
Pakistan have made four changes from the last playing XI, bringing Shadab Khan into the playing XI for Usman Qadir, debutant Aamr Jamal for Hasnain while Naseem Shah has been injured.
Pakistan brought the Karachi leg of the series to a close on Sunday when the hosts beat England in a thriller. Shan Masood's under-arm throw from the last match prevented Reece Topley from reaching the crease and England from chasing the 167-run target.
A bit troubling for Pakistan would be the absence of right-arm pacer Shah. The fast bowler will miss today's T20 fixture against England after an infection ruled him out for the match.
The green shirts are already missing Pakistan's lethal left-arm bowling sensation, Shaheen Shah Afridi, who also had to sit out the Asia Cup earlier this month due to an injury.
“Naseem was taken to hospital on Tuesday night with a viral infection and will not be available for Wednesday’s match,” a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman said.
Pakistan will hope skipper Babar Azam scores at least 61 runs in the match today. The Pakistani captain is just 61 runs shy of 3,000 runs. If Azam succeeds in crossing the 3,000-run mark, he will become the fastest batter to reach the milestone—beating the previous record set by Indian skipper Virat Kohli.
Kohli took 81 innings to reach the milestone of 3,000 runs in T20Is. Currently, Azam has 2,939 runs under his belt from 79 innings.
England, who are on their first tour of Pakistan in 17 years, will play three matches in Lahore. The sixth T20 fixture between the two sides will take place on Friday, September 30 before the final match of the series will take place on Sunday, October 2.
Playing XI:
Pakistan 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Shan Masood, 4 Iftikhar Ahmed, 5 Haider Ali, 6 Asif Ali, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Aamer Jamal, 10 Mohammad Wasim, 11 Haris Rauf
England 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Duckett, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali (capt), 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood