England vs Pakistan, 5th ODI, Preview: Records once again in danger as action now shifts to Leeds

Things have been getting more and more embarrassing for Pakistan, who stumbled yet again despite putting on a lot of runs on board. Their bowling attack which has some fine talents got bludgeoned and battered in the hands of the English batsmen and with the series already lost, they play for pride in the fifth and final ODI.

For both teams, this is the last game before the World Cup warm-up games begin, hence no one would want to take the game for granted despite it being a dead rubber. The same could be said for the fans as well, who definitely can expect a whole lot of entertainment from this one having witnessed so many runs in the last three games.

Pakistan have been poor with the ball, but more so in the field. They seem very under confident and sloppy, which resulted in some game-changing moments. Their batting department has been doing a fabulous job, but they send a clear message to the other teams that no score is a safe score when they will all be here for the World Cup.

Playing combinations

England

Bairstow will be rested for another game and Ben Stokes is another player expected to get some rest with Eoin Morgan coming into the XI. There is also a case for Chris Jordan to get a chance but he doesn’t seem to be in World Cup plans at the moment. Jofra Archer will be hogging a lot of limelight once again with this game probably his final shot at the dice to earn a place in the World Cup squad.

Predicted XI

James Vince, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Jos Buttler (wk), Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Joe Denly/Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Tom Curran, Mark Wood

Pakistan

Imam-ul-Haq suffered an injury on his elbow in the previous game and might not get a game on Sunday just to be on the safer side. Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez back in action is such a bonus for Sarfaraz Ahmed, who now has a much more experienced batting lineup. No changes are expected in the bowling unit, with Junaid Khan, Hasan Ali and Mohamad Hasnain being the chief pacers.

Predicted XI

Imam-ul-Haq/Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk), Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Junaid Khan.

Focus will be on

Joe Root (England)

Perhaps the only batsman in their lineup who will not be kickstarting innings right from the fourth gear, Joe Root has a pretty significant challenge to assist and play good second-fiddles to the aggressive batsmen in the lineup. He stitched a brilliant partnership in the last game with Jason Roy, but he definitely needs a big score to do his confidence a world of good.

Fakhar Zaman (Pakistan)

Fakhar Zaman often gets criticized for being a little too inconsistent. Yet, the opener has managed to get some good scores after his name in this series, just at the right time from the team’s point of view. Now he needs to build some more big knocks just to get the confidence rolling and considering how much he has enjoyed playing in England, it won’t be a surprise if he chips in with some more big scores.

Head to Head

Matches Played – 85 | England won – 51 | Pakistan won – 31 | No Result – 3

Stat Attack

7 – Pakistan have lost all of their previous seven ODI fixtures (Completed games).

339 – The highest score on this ground in ODIs is 339. The lowest score in the series thus far has been 340 (Among the innings that were completed).

Broadcast Details

TV – Sony Six and Sony Six HD

Live Streaming – Sony LIV

Match Timings – 15:30 IST: 11:00 local