England v Pakistan: First T20 at Headingley abandoned because of rain

England’s first T20 against Pakistan at Headingley was abandoned without a ball being bowled because of rain.

Persistent, heavy rain led to the match, due to start at 18:30 BST, being called off at 17:30.

It leaves England with just three matches before their defence of the T20 World Cup begins on 4 June.

The second T20 is on Saturday at Edgbaston, followed by T20s in Cardiff on Tuesday and at The Oval on Thursday.

England fly to Barbados on Friday, 31 May and do not play any official warm-ups in the Caribbean before their opener against Scotland.

The washout comes after England’s players arrived back in the UK last week, having left the Indian Premier League early to prepare during this series.

Jos Buttler’s side have not played a T20 series since a 3-2 defeat by West Indies in December.

They drew a four-match series against New Zealand prior to their dismal defence of the 50-over World Cup last year and lost 3-0 in Bangladesh last March – their only T20s since winning the World Cup in Australia in 2022.