England vs Pakistan at The Oval - ODI preview
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482’s embattled team snatch a win against their hosts at The Oval?
England captain Andrew Strauss’s 126 was the difference between the two sides in their last match in Leeds as the home team claimed a four-wicket victory with three balls to spare, but there are signs of life in the Pakistan ODI side that seemed to be missing in their two Twenty20s against England in Cardiff at the start of September.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal has impressed in an opening slot with scores of 53 and 74 (from 72 balls) respectively in his past two matches; but at Headingley the notoriously fragile Pakistan top order all stood up and posted decent knocks, with Asad Shafiq scoring a half-century and Mohammad Hafeez and Mohammad Yousuf not falling far short.
The problem is backing up that batting with the ball, and with suspended pace duo Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir out of the bowling attack, Pakistan’s strength has become their weakness.
While spinner Saeed Ajmal (six wickets) has taken more wickets than anyone else in the two matches of the series that have been played so far, his teammates have only managed a total of four wickets between them, with Afridi’s leg-breaks producing two of them.
Pakistan’s pace attack is lacking bite, and with 77 runs conceded from 12.3 overs so far and no wickets to his name, towering paceman Mohammad Irfan – who has left the field with cramps in both matches so far and dropped a catch that would have dismissed Strauss in the twenties in Leeds – will be lucky if he’s included in the playing XI for this match.
It’s a stark contrast to the England bowling attack, where Stuart Broad has claimed five wickets so far in the series while James Anderson, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann have each claimed three scalps apiece.
And while Strauss has once again proved his worth in the one-dayers, wicketkeeper-batsman Steve Davies making his chance to keep http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Durham-c782.
Then there’s Jonathan Trott (69 and 53 in the first two matches of the series), who is fast developing into the most reliable batsman in the England line-up.
There’s an overall strength and stability to the England team that Pakistan can only dream of, and yet in two matches so far they have pushed their hosts closer to defeat than even the most optimistic Pakistan supporter might have imagined.
The Oval presents a final chance for Afridi to guide his team to victory in a live match in the series, with England only needing to win this game to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the series.
Prediction: England to deny Pakistan again.
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