Pakistan face England in World Twenty20 Super Eight
England will be hoping for some sunshine after the rain as they face defending champions Pakistan in the first match of the World Twenty20 Super Eight stage.
In the two group stage matches Paul Collingwood’s side have played so far, there has been little chance to make an informed assessment of their bowlers, who have bowled a sum total of less than 10 overs between them in their rain-interrupted matches against the West Indies and Ireland.
In the two overs Graeme Swann has bowled so far in the tournament, both against the West Indies, the spinner has taken two wickets, but there were few who would have predicted that the 31-year-old would struggle on the turning Caribbean wickets.
What we have had a chance to look at are England’s batsmen, who had the opportunity to bat for the full 20 overs in both Group D matches before the rain set in and forced a result under the Duckworth/Lewis method against the West Indies and a wash-out against Ireland.
Eoin Morgan has been the standout. He followed his 55 from 35 balls against the hosts with 45 from 37 deliveries against Ireland, along the way treating fans to the sort of creative shot-making that leaves bowlers shaking their heads and that prompted a quiet chuckle from his skipper from the sidelines.
“Anyone who can hit the ball as cleanly as he does, and hit some of the shots he does, obviously has a great combination,” England team director Andy Flower said of the former Ireland batsman after his two World Twenty20 knocks, adding, "We’re very thankful to have him.”
Morgan’s performance has not, however, been matched by his teammates. Collingwood has been far from his reliable best with scores of six and a duck so far, while the upside of Kevin Pietersen’s failure, so far, to tear a match apart is that England may not miss their No. 3 batsman if and when he gets the phone call from back home that his first child is about to enter the world.
After finding form in the IPL though, you’d suspect Pietersen is about an innings away from making his mark on the World Twenty20, which could be bad news for Pakistan, in a match where their chances of defending the title they won in England last year might start to become a whole lot clearer.
So far, there have been no great surprises in Pakistan’s results. In their Group A match against Bangladesh, they opened with the win that was both expected and required with openers Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt dominating the Bangladesh bowlers to finish with 73 runs each, and contribute the bulk of their side’s 172-run total.
Against Australia, however, we saw a different side of Shahid Afridi’s team as they fell 34 runs short of the 191-run Australian total, as Michael Clarke’s men extended their dominance over Pakistan into the Caribbean with a strong all-round showing.
England, then, is the middle ground for the mercurial Pakistan. A team they know they can beat, but not one that they always do, a fact that is borne out by the two-two win-loss record in Twenty20 Internationals the teams share heading into this match.
All things considered, this match should be an interesting test of just what direction both England and Pakistan’s fortunes are about to take in the Caribbean.
Prediction: It might also be the match that England announce themselves as genuine World Twenty20 title contenders.
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