Twenty-four hours after a 10-wicket defeat at Karachi, England recaptured a 2-1 lead in the seven-match T20 series as they waltzed to victory by 63 runs.
Wood defended a formidable total of 221 for three, turning up the heat as he reached some of the fastest speeds ever recorded by an English bowler, taking three for 25 from four fiery overs.
It was hard to believe that the 32-year-old hadn’t played competitive cricket since he suffered a serious elbow injury in March and the only signs of discomfort came from the opposing batters, who couldn’t cope with his slipping pace.
The foundation was previously laid by the career efforts of two middle-class rookies, Harry Brook who hit 81 not out of 35 balls and Ben Duckett who made 70 no out of 42. But Wood is more likely than either of these players to be the first choice. selection in next month’s World Cup, making him the headliner.
The early exchanges were from debutant Will Jacks, who hit 40 in 22 balls after being drafted to replace the equipped Alex Hales.
The 23-year-old missed out on winning Surrey’s County Championship title on Thursday, but didn’t look like a man pining for home and announcing himself on the big stage with an action-packed contribution to the top.
With Phil Salt dropping early, he took responsibility, dumping some early limits to deep mid-wicket and unloading powerful drives to the ground. With growing confidence, he stepped away and scornfully slammed Shahnawaz Dahani over cover.
His at bat helped England to 57 for one in the power play, but Usman Qadir ended things with a double strike when Dawid Malan and Jacks both picked the leg-side sweeper.
Duckett had already helped himself to three boundaries when Brook joined him at 82 to three and they matched perfectly. Brook crashed Qadir for two sixes into four balls, reached for the second while hanging out, but still sent him all the way.
While Brook showed off his strength and timing, Duckett leaned on his reputation as an incorrigible sweeper and assembled a string of fours that were both predictable and impossible to avoid.
Brook won the race to fifty with one big over from Dahani, two precise shots behind the point either side of another big hit over mid-wicket. He had taken just 24 balls to reach the milestone, six faster than Duckett, who joined him moments later.
They pumped 43 out of the last three overs, including a superb over-the-shoulder slope from Brook, to take full control.
Pakistan’s hopes were in their top two, fresh from a unbroken 203 draw the day before, but Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan both came back to earth, fired for eight apiece.
Wood needed exactly four balls to make up for lost time, Babar couldn’t control a fast ball when he flashed a head-high flyout to the third man. Reece Topley also made a splash and knocked over Rizwan’s leg stump as he tried to make room.
Wood’s second left had even more heat and Haider Ali wanted none of it, fluttering a throat ball to the square leg in what was little more than self-preservation. By the time Iftikhar Ahmed fell to an ugly shot from Sam Curran, the score was 28 for four and the match was essentially over.
Shan Masood had a personal success and made an entertaining no, but Wood made short work of Haris Rauf when he returned and the game barely existed as a match for the majority of the answer.
Additional reporting from PA