Daily Times

LAHORE: The one-day international series between England and Pakistan has been decided, but ICC Cricket World Cup Super League (CWCSL) points will be up for grabs when England face Pakistan in the third ODI at Birmingham on Tuesday (today). The CWCSL has ensured that there are no more dead rubbers in bilateral ODI series as Pakistan, despite having lost the first two matches of the three-match series, could jump to the second spot in the standings with a win in the third ODI. For that to happen, however, they will have to put on much better performances than what they have shown in the series so far, especially the batsmen. After rare back-to-back failures with the bat for Babar Azam, the skipper will be looking to lead from the front in the final game of the series. England, meanwhile, have proved why they have been one of the best white-ball teams in the world in the past few years, making the best use of the resources available to them in unprecedented circumstances.

Ben Stokes will be looking to complete the sweep and consolidate their position at the top for the CWCSL table. Expect a few more maiden caps to be handed out today as the hosts could look to experiment with their team combination. Lewis Gregory’s all-round Player of the Match-winning performance helped England register a comprehensive 52-run win and clinch the series in a rain-curtailed second ODI at Lord’s.

England captain Stokes said: “There’s no better way in international cricket than to put your hand up and deliver under that sort of pressure. We’ve won the series already, but there’s nothing better than continuing the winning streak. We’ll take the same mindset into the next game, and if anything we’ll come harder.”

Pakistan bowlers made early inroads and scalped Dawid Malan and Zac Crawley within the first five overs before fifties from Phil Salt and James Vince consolidated the innings. The visitors triggered a collapse in the middle overs as England went from 118-2 to 160-7. Playing in just their second ODIs, Gregory and Brydon Carse strung together a 69-run partnership to help the hosts put 247 runs on board in 47 overs. Hasan Ali was the star of the show for Pakistan as he registered his fourth ODI five-for. Gregory and Saqib Mahmood got England off to a great start with the ball, reducing Pakistan to 38/3 in the first nine overs. Saud Shakeel found some support in Sohaib Maqsood and Shadab Khan but that wasn’t enough to bail the tourists out of trouble. Hasan Ali scored a 17-ball 31 but the asking rate was too much for the Pakistan tail and they fell short by 52 runs. Pakistan captain Babar said: “Hopefully we can sort things out before the next game. The way Hasan bowled and Shakeel batted, these are good positives for us. Focus is to do well in the next game because there are still Super League points on offer.”

Edgbaston has not hosted an ODI since the World Cup semi-final in 2019, two years and a day ago, when England beat Australia by eight wickets. Pakistan have played 14 previous ODIs at Edgbaston, winning six and losing eight. However, only five of those have come against England, whom they last played at the venue in 2006. The rest have been at ICC events, most recently their group-stage victory over New Zealand in 2019. Hasan Ali took his fourth ODI five-for with figures of 5 for 51 at Lord’s. Each of his previous three five-wicket hauls had come in 2017, while in 13 completed matches dating back to November 2018, he had not picked up more than a single wicket in an innings.

Squads:

England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Zak Crawley, 4 James Vince, 5 Ben Stokes (capt), 6 John Simpson (wk), 7 Lewis Gregory, 8 Craig Overton, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Matt Parkinson.

Pakistan: 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Sohaib Maqsood, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11 Haris Rauf/Mohammad Hasnain.