Pakistan vs England, 1st ODI: Likely XI for Eoin Morgan & co.
The Rose Bowl Stadium in Southampton will see the first ODI battle between Eoin Morgan's men in blue, England and Azhar Ali's troops in green, Pakistan.
A Test series win on home soil snatched away, a 2-1 lead cancelled out and an opening to reach the No.1 Test spot, not made most of. This is how England’s Test fortunes were scripted by Misbah-ul-Haq’s spirited Pakistan, who now for the first time proudly own the Test crown. You could say, the visitors did achieve their ‘mission’ after all and the hosts, Alastair Cook’s men perhaps, were left to ponder on their fall in ‘standards’. Time passes quickly though. Just 10 days after a hard-fought series ended at The Kennington Oval, the teams would be seen in colors. The torch bearers have changed. The armies have seen influx of fresh, young, passionate soldiers. And Hampshire’s home ground, The Rose Bowl Stadium in Southampton will see the first ODI battle between Eoin Morgan’s men in blue and Azhar Ali’s troops in green. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs England, 1st ODI at The Rose Bowl, Southampton
While Cook’s side is a ‘work in progress’, Morgan’s limited-overs side has been highly promising. Here’s how it might shape up as the five-match ODI series gets underway.
Top Order: With the change in format, comes a change in license for Alex Hales. Coming from a poor run-of-form in the Test series, Hales would like to erase those memories first and foremost. He will of course be joined by the talented Jason Roy at the top of the order. The duo would like to continue their partnership, and contribute with big runs for their side, just as they did against Sri Lanka. England’s 4-0 win included some magnificent and solid opening stands between the duo. At No. 3, Joe Root would be the obvious choice. With an ever-growing hunger to score runs, Root will again try and do what he does best. But this time he will have a more experienced and dangerous bowling attack to find answers to. Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer and Yasir Shah will be tough to handle. Predictions and Preview: Hosts look to continue domination at home
Middle Order: England’s middle-order is a strong one. An advantage for them is that they have a line-up that bats very deep. Morgan will surely occupy a position. Returning from a finger-injury, Morgan will be raring to go and lead his side to a series win. After him, England can choose from a number of batsmen and all-rounders. Jos Buttler who can keep wickets is coming back from an fractured thumb injury will be interesting to watch. So will be Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali, who of course can be very handy with his spin. He can contain the batsmen, most importantly, and he can bat too. Then, Chris Woakes, the star of England’s summer, he can chip in too.
In simple words, England’s batting shouldn’t be a worry, even in front of a high on confidence Pakistan side, coming after a ODI series win in Ireland.
Lower Order and Bowling: Amidst everything, the return of Mark Wood after an ankle injury, would have made Morgan happy. Wood is capable, has skills, can swing the ball and therefore will be a bowler to watch out for. England rely much more on their batting than bowling, and that is why it becomes vital for them to improve in that department. Liam Plunkett, Stokes, Chris Jordan and Woakes will have to be consistent in their line and length. They might have seen Sharjeel Khan‘s attacking influence and will have to find solutions to get him out. Keeping the Pakistan batting silent in the death overs will be important as well. Left armer David Willey’s presence despite injury would have sent a strong message to the Pakistan dug out. He, if he plays would surely bring variety to the team. And Adil Rashid, could be valuable with his spin bowling as well.
England likely XI: Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid.
(Karan Dewan, a reporter with CricketCountry, loves following and playing sports. He is a Team India fan and loves winning. Follow him on his twitter handle@karan13dewan)
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