Pakistan Vs England T-20 World Cup match preview
Thanks to Australia grit, character and a winning mentality that saw them down but never out of the contest last night against the Bengal Tigers, The Kookaburras finally emerged victorious from a tie that looked all but lost and in turn favoured the green shirts as the Aussie win confirmed of Pakistan’s qualification into the super 8s.
Pakistan have been drafted into a relatively easy group along with England in the group they have the patchy Proteas and the unpredictable Kiwis.
Shahid Afridi’s men will pit their wits against Paul Collingwood’s men tonight in their first group game of the super 8s. Both sides have had a patchy start to the tournament so far. Pakistan after having convincingly beaten Bangladesh in their first encounter by 21 runs struggled massively against the Kangaroos but then its more down to their Asperger’s Syndrome rather than their playing form. Similarly after putting on a mighty show against the Windies in the first encounter posting 191 only to be betrayed by the Duckworth Lewis system to lose the match, England;s batting was in slick form in the first match but only a day later the stars that shone so brightly the other day were shot down to Earth by an inspired Irish outfit. England bundled out for a paltry 121 runs but the rain that was their tormentor a day ago was to be their savior a day later, the match was abandoned with a point awarded to both the sides and much to the Lions relief it made sure of their progress to the next round.
T-20 version of the game is an unpredictable affair altogether but being played by England and Pakistan it is nothing short of a lottery, and with South Africa’s dibbly dobbly performances off late coupled with New Zealand’s unpredictability in general group A is wide open and anyone can progress through.
Pakistan will have the task at hand much easier if they somehow manage to beat England tonight at Bridgetown but so will Englands so tonight’s game holds mighty importance for both the parties involved. On one hand where England’s batting line up came up all guns blazing against the Callypsos Pakistan’s batting is still struggling to get the runs going and if they have to win the encounter tonight its their batting that has to click at all costs or they are as good as doomed. Salman Butt has been amongst the runs in the tournament but his strike partner Akmal is struggling so is Boom Boom Afridi .
While Saeed Ajmal is impressive with his offspinners, Muhammad Hafeez is struggling with both the leather and the willow and with Muhammad Sami butchered by the Aussies his spot is likely to be taken up by Muhammad Asif for tonights cliffhanger, while Hafeez is likely to retain his spot in the side.
For the Lions Kevin Pietersen is on the back of a swashbuckling IPL and is still to set the world stage alight but tonight’s pace and bounce in the wicket will surely get him ticking but given Asif’ record against him, its going to be a treat to watch.
The pitch in Barbados is best suited for this kind of Cricket with pace and bounce for the seamers and grip for the spinners, but nothing can be taken for granted in this format of the game especially after two low scoring encounters on Wednesday.
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