Preview:
The England team had to deal with a big blow ahead of their ODI series against Pakistan as many of their members tested positive for COVID-19. Owing to this, the ECB announced a completely new squad for the series which is to be led by Ben Stokes. A total of 9 uncapped players have made it to the squad of England.
Pakistan, however, last played South Africa in April, where they triumphed in the ODI series 2-1. Thus, they would definitely carry the positives from their last series, whereas leading the England side and making an impact in the series would be a challenging task for Ben Stokes.
Match Details:
England vs Pakistan, 1st ODI
Venue: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
Date & Time: July 8th, at 5:30 PM IST and 1:00 PM Local Time
Live Streaming: Sony Sports Network
Pitch Report:
Opting to bowl first would be a good choice on this turf. Chasing teams have an edge as it a flat surface. A total of 280-300 would be a good score on this pitch.
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Probable Playing XIs for ENG vs PAK:
England
Philip Salt/ Ben Duckett, James Vince, Dawid Malan, Zak Crawley, Ben Stokes (c), Daniel Lawrence / Will Jacks, Lewis Gregory, Jake Ball, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson, David Payne
Pakistan
Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi
Top Picks for ENG vs PAK 11Wickets Fantasy Cricket:
Ben Stokes missed the previous series owing to an injury. However, he is now back in the squad and has also been given the mantle of leading the side. He has the all-rounding abilities to clinch a game from any crunch moment and thus he would be a good pick for the game.
Babar Azam is pretty much aware of the English conditions and has had a decent exposure to it. In his ODI career, he has chipped in 3808 runs at a healthy average of 56.83. The Pakistan skipper would thus be a great asset for this game.
Haris Rauf has a good series against the Proteas. He scalped as many as 7 wickets in the series and was thus was the joint leading wicket-taker. He would be keen to better his abilities in this game as well.
Suggested Playing XI No.1 for ENG vs PAK 11Wickets Fantasy Cricket:
Mohammad Rizwan, James Vince, Babar Azam (c), Zak Crawley, Fakhar Zaman, Ben Stokes (vc), Shadab Khan, Jake Ball, Saqib Mahmood, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali
Suggested Playing XI No.2 for ENG vs PAK 11Wickets Fantasy Cricket:
Philip Salt, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Dawid Malan, Zak Crawley, Fakhar Zaman (c), Ben Stokes, Faheem Ashraf, David Payne, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf (vc)
Captain and Vice-Captain Options
Captain Options: Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman
Vice-Captain Options: Ben Stokes and Haris Rauf
