When and Where to Watch England vs Pakistan Live Streaming, Match Preview, Timings, and Pitch Report for 1st ODI

As many as nine uncapped players feature in England's squad after the initial team had to re-isolate.

Published - 07 Jul 2021, 13:31 IST | Updated - 07 Jul 2021, 13:31 IST

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Prior to their three-match ODI series against Pakistan, England have found themselves in a bit of trouble. Their first-choice squad has been forced to isolate after seven COVID-19 positive tests emerged among the English team and the management.

Three cricketers and four members of the management contracted the virus and the results came from a round of PCR testing on Monday. However, instead of cancelling the series, the ECB named a new-look squad with as many as nine uncapped players.

The team will be led by Ben Stokes. Alex Hales, who was left out of the side before the 2019 World Cup due to recreational drugs, hasn’t been able to earn a national call-up.

The opening game of the ODI series is set to be played on Thursday, July 8 at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff and the hosts have a task at hand with a depleted team.

The visitors, on the other hand, had to call up Sohaib Maqsood after Haider Ali was sidelined due to the COVID-19 protocol breach. Maqsood played a handy role for the Multan Sultans in their victorious campaign in the 2021 Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Playing Combinations for ENG vs PAK

England

In the absence of big names, the Brits have a challenging task in the batting department. Ben Duckett, Ben Stokes, and Dawid Malan have donned the national colours and a lot will depend on them.

Phillip Salt has been in decent form in the ongoing T20 Blast and he needs to be on top of his game. Lewis Gregory has played around the world, but international cricket could be a different ballgame altogether.

Danny Briggs might get to play for the Brits after a gap of seven years. In Jos Buttler’s absence, John Simpson is likely to get a chance. Overton, Ball, and Mahmood need to bring forth their experience as well.

Predicted XI

Phillip Salt, James Vince, Ben Duckett, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes (C), Lewis Gregory, John Simpson (WK), Craig Overton, Jake Ball, Saqib Mahmood, Danny Briggs/Matthew Parkinson

Bench: Brydon Carse, Tom Helm, Danny Briggs/Matthew Parkinson, David Payne, Daniel Lawrence, Zak Crawley, Will Jacks

Pakistan

Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq have stitched together a number of useful stands for Pakistan and they should keep opening the batting. Babar Azam has played plenty of match-winning knocks for Pakistan and he needs to be on top of his game in order for Pakistan to dictate terms on the opposition.

In the bowling department, Shaheen Shah Afridi has been a tad out of rhythm, but keeping in mind his quality, he’s expected to make hay.

Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali have been effective in recent times. It will also be interesting to see if Shadab Khan manages to extract some turn from the surface.

Predicted XI

Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (C), Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Mohammad Nawaz/Sohaib Maqsood, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf

Bench: Mohammad Nawaz/Sohaib Maqsood, Abdullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel, Usman Qadir, Agha Salman, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain