England, Pakistan try to refocus on cricket, 1st T20I, preview
The Match
England and Pakistan will face off against each other in the first T20I of the two-game series at Cardiff. Both sides would have looked forward to the week-long break after the four Test match series ended on August 29, but what should have been a week of relaxing and practice has been spent in wondering whether the series will actually go on after the match-fixing scandal hit cricket again.
Pakistan will be under a lot more pressure given that they will not only have lost three of their players for this series, but will also have a lot to prove. Every move of theirs, especially catches dropped, stumpings missed, silly run-outs or soft dismissals will be magnified by the media and questioned in the backdrop of the scandal that hit cricket.
England has had a quiet little period, which was disrupted by the announcement that the Kevin Pietersen was dropped from the side. That, by itself was shocking enough, but Pietersen’s foul-mouthed tweet on the social networking website, Twitter made the week a tad more eventful for England.
The Pitch:
The game will be played at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, a venue that has yet to host a single T20I. It has played host to a Test match between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 and England in 2009, apart from eight ODIs. What is surprising is that out of the nine internationals played here, England has won only one – a statistic that should give some hope to the beleaguered Pakistani side.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755:
Not only will they be reeling under the allegations of match-fixing, but the exclusion of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir will mean that they are left with only 13 players to choose from. Fortunately for them, the batting did come to the party in the tour game against Somerset when the two youngsters, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahzaib-Hasan-c2488 and Fawad Alam rescued the side from a precarious 42/3.
The bigger problem for the Pakistani side will be the absence of their key bowlers, Asif and Amir, making it a difficult choice for them. Umar Gul should lead the bowling of the side, along with Shoaib Akhtar and Wahab Riaz, with Saeed Ajmal as the spin bowler.
The Playing Eleven:
Hafeez, Alam, Yousuf, Hasan, Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Razzaq-c84421, Akhtar, Ajmal, Gul.
Players to watch out for:
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482’s captaincy will be the one to watch out for as he will look to extricate the team out of the situation they find themselves in.
England:
England have named a 12-member side for the two match series, which will be led by Paul Collingwood. With Pietersen dropped from the line-up, the side will depend on their top-order consisting of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Craig-Kieswetter-c51708 and Ravi Bopara, followed by Eoin Morgan, Collingwood and Luke Wright. Steve Davies has been included as a specialist wicket-keeper and that will mean that Kieswetter will play as a pure batsman.
Depending on how the track is, the side may want to leave Michael Yardy out as a specialist spinner and get in Ryan Sidebottom instead.
The Playing Eleven:
Bopara, Kieswetter, Collingwood, Morgan, Davies, Wright, Swann, Broad, Anderson, Bresnan, Sidebottom
Players to watch out for:
It is the batting line-up that seems a tad weak for England. The middle-order of England will something to look out for.
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