Pakistan take on England in Abu Dhabi for the 2nd one day international tomorrow after having been defeated by a thumping 130 runs in the first match of the series yesterday.
Line Ups
England will most probably go unchanged. Bresnan was ruled out of the first one as the England management were unconvinced with regards to his fitness and the bowling all rounder may come in for Anderson who went wicket less last night.
Pakistan may make a couple of changes.Umar Akmal was suffering with back problems in the first one and may miss out in the 2nd. Shoaib Malik’s abysmal form continued and with Hammad Azam waiting in the wings, Malik may not get another go. There have been suggestions that Azhar Ali may come in to bat in the opening slot or come in at one down to give Pakistan some technique and solidity to overcome the new ball after losing 4 wickets in the first powerplay on Monday evening of all their top 4 batsmen as Steve Finn’s pace, movement and bounce did wonders under lights.
Statistics
England have an 8-5 record against Pakistan on matches played at neutral venues
England have won their last 3 50 over matches against Pakistan including an unofficial world cup warm up match in Bangladesh this time last year and the ODI decider at Southampton in 2010 to go along with the thumping win last night.In all of these 3 matches Pakistan have been chasing.
Mohammad Hafeez has 1 ODI half century in his last 10 innings
4 out of the 6, 5 wicket hauls Ajmal has taken at international level have come in lost causes with his batsmen letting him down
In 7 innings since coming back into the one day side the highest score Shoaib Malik has made is a 17
Prediction
Pakistan will come back hard and bounce back to square the series if they win the toss.
Key Player
Pakistan – Mohammad Hafeez has been bowling extremely well and regularly completed his quota since being a permanent member of Pakistan’s line up since September 2010. As often has been the case Hafeez has taken the new ball and bowled in the power play, it’s been a formality now which every Pakistani supporter is used to seeing. However, his batting form has taken a dip and Pakistan will be banking on him to provide a decent start at the top of the order. Hafeez has been encountering difficulties with the ball coming back at him where he has been getting caught at the crease and subsequently given LBW. This will be the day Hafeez revives some form and confidence with the blade having missed out for a while now.
England – Alastair Cook made his 3rdODI century and scored more than the whole Pakistani total on Monday as the Essex left handed opener was the architect of England’s total of 260 against a formidable Pakistani bowling line up. This was the highest score made by a team against Pakistan after 20 ODIs. Cook cashed in when the opportunity was there, milked the bowling around, but what stood out was the control which Cook demonstrated in his stroke play and shot selection. Ian Botham on Sky’s Review for the test series said the following about Cook: “The biggest problem for me with England’s one day squad is their captain Alastair Cook. He was not good enough to find a place in England’s One Day Squad for the World Cup and all of a sudden he comes into the mix as captain of the one day side. I can’t think of how he’s going to score against the spinners, he hasn’t got enough shots for one day cricket. They want to make him the successor to Strauss and are using the One day format to help the test team in the long term rather than being serious about winning one day matches”. Botham shall be chewing his words now. It was the 2nd highest individual score by an Englishmen in one day internationals and England’s first 3 figure score of the tour.
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