Pakistan, England take guard for big summer of cricket

CARDIFF, Wales: The one-off Twenty20 International between Pakistan and England on Sunday (today) will help the teams get into match mode before they throw themselves completely into preparation for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.

Most players will agree that there’s nothing like match-practice against strong opposition in suitable conditions to get ready for a big tournament. Which means that England, the No 1 side on the ICC ODI Team Rankings, and Pakistan, No 1 on the corresponding T20I rankings, who are set to play a one-off T20I and a five-match ODI series in England and Wales before the World Cup, which starts on May 30, will be two of the best prepared sides for the premier tournament.

A lot of the focus will be on the ODI series between the sides as the hosts, especially, try to answer some late questions: Will Jofra Archer find a place in the final 15? Can the other pacers lift their game? Who will stand up to be counted for the spot left vacant by Alex Hales? But before that, the T20I should make for a tasty appetizer.

Pakistan go into the game with their batsmen in fine form, with all of Imad Wasim, Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam making hundreds in their tour wins. However, they will be without Shoaib Malik, who has been granted leave, and there is an injury cloud over Mohammad Hafeez as well.

All eyes will be on Mohammad Amir, who found himself out of the preliminary World Cup squad. In his only game on tour so far, he picked up one wicket.

England still aren’t their full-strength squad. They will go in with the same set of players who scrapped to a four-wicket win against Ireland on Friday after being reduced to 101-6 at one stage. Archer, who by his own admission was nervous to make his debut against Ireland, is likely to get another go, while his fellow pacer Chris Jordan, who didn’t feature in the XI in the last game, could get a look in.

Duckett, a late call-up to the squad, is also waiting for his T20I debut, while James Vince, who made 18 against Ireland, will be hoping for better numbers to bolster his case ahead of the ODIs.

Today’s Fixture

Pakistan vs England

06:30 pm PST