Ben Stokes has revealed the message he gave to a new-look England side which led to a memorable first victory as ODI captain.

A makeshift side eased to an impressive win over Pakistan at Cardiff yesterday.

It saw Cockermouth star Stokes lead the 50-over side for the first time as part of a raft of changes following a Covid-19 outbreak in the squad.

The originally-named squad had to be stood down with an all-new XI named, with Stokes also returning from injury as skipper.

After winning the toss, Stokes saw his bowlers dismantle Pakistan, dismissing them for 141, Saqib Mahmood starring with 4-42.

Dawid Malan and Zak Crawley then steered England to an emphatic nine-wicket victory in just 21.5 overs, with half-centuries apiece.

All-rounder Stokes said he had told the new-look team to make the most of the occasion.

Asked what his pre-match message had been, Stokes said: "Just go out and do what you've been doing for your counties all summer and in summers previous.

"Don't change for the occasion. Just go out and enjoy the situation we find ourselves in - and everyone's done that."

An impressive opening burst for Mahmood set the tone for England, who reduced Pakistan to 26-4.

Craig Overton and Matt Parkinson also picked up two wickets apiece and Lewis Gregory picking up a further scalp.

England lost Philip Salt early into their reply but Malan and Crawley made short work of the target.

Stokes added: "It was a very clinical performance.

"Any game when you get an opposition four down very early on you're massively ahead of the game.

"That always helps, especially being captain for the first time, and I thought the bowlers put in a great performance.

"When you put any new group together you're always striving for that first real team performance, and getting that first up is a massive boost.

"What we need to keep in mind is that we didn't get put under pressure at all today - there's no doubt we will at some point in this series, but it's also a great learning curve that sticking to the basics is always going to do us well."

The second ODI is at Lords tomorrow.