KARACHI
\nEngland bowler Mark Wood said he is hopeful he can return to full fitness and hit his peak \u201cat the right time\u201d ahead of this year\u2019s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.
\nWood, who missed the entire English summer due to an elbow injury, marked his return to international cricket with three wickets in England\u2019s 63-run win over Pakistan in Karachi on Friday.
\n\u201cMy body feels OK,\u201d Wood told Sky Sports after the win. \u201cI\u2019ll probably live on an ice machine now\u2026
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s important for me is that I don\u2019t want to go too hard now and then I\u2019m not ready for Australia. I\u2019ve got to peak at the right time, and then when it comes to that World Cup, I\u2019m fit and firing.
\n\u201cI\u2019m just a little bit tired. It\u2019s my first game in a while but actually I felt pretty good leading into it. I\u2019ve done loads of time in the gym, lots of running, but nothing is the same as playing a game.\u201d
\nEngland, who took a 2-1 lead in the seven-match series with the win, will next face Pakistan on Sunday as both sides continue preparations for the Oct. 16-Nov. 13 T20 World Cup.
\nSet a mammoth 222 for victory, Pakistan were rocked early by the searing pace of Wood (3-24) when he removed Babar Azam (8) and Haider Ali (3) to leave the hosts wobbling on 28-4.
\nShan Masood (65 not out) briefly resurrected the chase with a fighting half-century but the total proved well out of reach for Pakistan, who had demolished England by 10 wickets 24 hours earlier.
\nAfter England were put in to bat, Brook (81) and Duckett (70) smashed their maiden T20 fifties and shared an unbeaten 139-run stand for the fourth wicket to help England post 221-3 after debutant Will Jacks (40) had given them a fine start.
\nLeg-spinner Usman Qadir (2-48) removed Jacks and Dawid Malan (14) in quick succession before Duckett and Brook made full use of a flat batting wicket and tore into the Pakistan attack with some sublime strokeplay.
\nBrook was especially impressive as he hit five sixes while Duckett used the sweep shot to devastating effect, helping himself to eight fours and a six during his 42-ball knock.
\nThe teams will play the fourth game at the same venue on tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI England bowler Mark Wood said he is hopeful he can return to full fitness and hit his peak \u201cat the right time\u201d ahead of this year\u2019s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia. Wood, who missed the entire English summer due to an elbow injury, marked his return to international cricket with three wickets in England\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285412,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-285394","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n