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• Archer back with a bang and Buttler stars as England beat Pakistan

  England claimed a 23-run over Pakistan in Saturday's T20I at Edgbaston, with the returning Jofra Archer taking two wickets.

  Making his first England appearance in over a year, paceman Archer dismissed Azam Khan and Imad Wasim as Pakistan were bowled out for 160 while chasing 184.

  England captain Jos Buttler was the star of the show in Birmingham, plundering 84 off 54 balls to set the tone for the hosts' innings.

  Will Jacks chipped in with a useful 37 before he, like Buttler, was caught out by Shadab Khan from Haris Rauf's bowling.

  Shaheen Shah Afridi (3-36) stopped Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali or Chris Jordan from getting going, but Archer came in to hit a four and a six to get England to 183-7.

  Pakistan were two down within four overs of their chase, and after Babar Azam (32) and Fakhar Zaman (45) were dismissed by Moeen and Liam Livingstone respectively, their chances looked increasingly slim.

  Having taken out Azam, Archer (2-28) ended Wasim's stand at 22, with Reece Topley (3-41) and Jordan (1-31) finishing the job for England.

  The series now moves to Cardiff, with the final match taking place at The Oval on Thursday.

  Data Debrief: Buttler at his best

  Buttler may well have to miss part of the upcoming T20 World Cup due to the birth of his third child, and England will be hoping their skipper makes a swift return to action if that is indeed the case.

  His knock, which included eight fours and three sixes, marked the second-highest score by an England captain in a T20I, behind Eoin Morgan's 91 against New Zealand in 2019.

• Matthews eyes continued growth as Windies Women build towards T20 World Cup in October

  While all the excitement is rightly around the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews and her team are steadily building towards their own global T20 showpiece, which is scheduled for October.

  Having lifted their first and only T20 World Cup title in 2016 when they defeated favourites Australia by eight wickets in Kolkata, Matthews, who was 18 years old at the time of that accomplishment, is hoping to repeat the feat in five months time, but for now, her immediate focus is on their build up to the tournament.

  The Caribbean women are set to tour Sri Lanka for three One-Day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals, from June 15-28, and those encounters Matthews said will kick start their preparation for the Women’s T20 World Cup to be staged in Bangladesh.

  This upcoming tour follows the West Indies Women’s successful outing in Pakistan where they won both the ODI and T20 series, losing just one of eight matches played.

  “Everyone would have had a nice month or so at home, so it’s about getting ourselves into tip top shape before we head off for a camp in Sri Lanka before the series,” Matthews told Barbados TODAY, shortly after a presentation to the Barbados Royals Girls Cricket Club at Friendship.

  “(Winning) the T20 World Cup is probably the main goal for the year, but at the same time on the Sri Lanka tour, we have ICC Championship points to play for that would help our qualification for the 50-over World Cup next year. So I think that both the 50-over and the T20 aspects of this upcoming tour are going to be pretty serious and we’re going to want to do really well in both the formats,” she added.

  

  Hayley Matthews engage a member of the Barbados Royals Girl Cricket Club in practice. (Photo: Haroon Greenidge)

  On a more personal note, Matthews, 26, expressed delight that her hard work behind the scenes have been bearing fruit in terms of her remarkable performances over the past year, in particular.

  The Barbadian, who is currently the number one ranked women’s T20 all-rounder in the world, recently became the first female to be named Wisden’s Leading Twenty20 cricketer in 2023, following a run of eight consecutive T20 match awards, in which she averaged 88 with the bat.

  Last year, in 14 T20 internationals, Matthews recorded 700 runs from 14 matches at an average of 63, and snared 19 wickets at an economy rate of 6.84. Across men’s and women’s T20 – domestic and international – her tally of 1,551 runs was topped only by England’s Jos Buttler.

  But, amidst all the accolades, Matthews is eyeing further improvements for the remainder of the year and beyond.

  “I am truly grateful. From the time I was 10 years old I knew I wanted to be a professional cricketer, and anytime you set out those dreams and want to do something so big, when success comes you’re obviously really grateful for it. Hopefully I can continue to grow, get better and have an even better 2024,” she shared.

• Buttler 'always' going to return as England T20 captain

  Jos Buttler was "always" going to return as England's limited-overs captain despite the team's poor ODI World Cup defence in India.

  After England won the 2019 ODI World Cup in epic fashion by beating New Zealand in a Super Over at Lord's, their defence of the title in India last year saw them fail to advance from the group stage.

  With England looking to put in a better defence of their T20 World Cup crown in the upcoming tournament in the West Indies and the United States which gets under way in June, Buttler says he was always going to remain limited-overs captain, though he acknowledges he made mistakes in India.

  "My first priority at the moment is being England captain and trying to prepare as best we can for a world tournament," Buttler told Sky Sports. "So I always said to Rob [Key, England managing director] I would definitely be coming back as England captain, and he's made the call on the rest of the players.

  "It's a chapter in the book. It was obviously a really disappointing World Cup, and your pride's dented, your confidence gets dented a bit, but time moves on and there's a really exciting opportunity now.

  "I think sometimes you try and let players play with freedom and you don't want to step in too much but making sure you don't miss things.

  "Maybe more communication at times to make sure people are clear on what is needed from them, on what they want from me or the coach."

  England were due to kick off a four-match T20I warm-up series against Pakistan at Headingley on Wednesday, but the game was abandoned because of rain without a ball having been bowled.

  England will get their T20I World Cup under way when they face Scotland in Barbados on June 4.

  Buttler feels some of the newer faces in the England squad have the potential to lead the team to an improved showing on what was seen in India, saying: "I think we've got a really nice, blended squad, actually. We've got a lot of experience but some guys who are really on the upward curve with the likes of Phil Salt, Will Jacks.

  "Harry Brook is still very early in his international career and those guys I really see trending in the right direction and pushing this team forward."