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ENG 255/5 in 47.3 overs | Pakistan vs England, 2nd ODI Live Updates: ENG win by 4 wickets

Hello and Welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of Pakistan in England 2016. This is the second One-Day International (ODI) between Pakistan and England and here you will get all the live updates of the match.

England currently have the advantage as they won the first ODI © Getty Images
England currently have the advantage as they won the first ODI © Getty Images

Hello and Welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of Pakistan in England 2016. This is the second One-Day International (ODI) between Pakistan and England and here you will get all the live updates of the match happening at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Stadium. England and Pakistan have had a terrific Test series prior to this which was squared and now look to play some limited overs game as they head to this five-match ODI series. The home side currently have the advantage as they won the first ODI and will be confident walking into the second ODI. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs England 2016, 2nd ODI at Lord’s

Batting first, Pakistan put up a total of 260 in the first ODI. It was Azhar Ali who stayed at the crease and ensured competitive runs for Pakistan on the board. Azhar scored 82 off 110 deliveries while wickets kept falling in regular intervals. He built the first crucial partnership with Bababr Azam who scored 40 off 42. Sarfraz Ahmed later on added 55 runs batting at No. 5 while the lower middle-order contributed in bits and pieces to push the score beyond 250.

England’s bowling was a combined attack from Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid. Rashid picked up a couple, Moeen went wicketless while the rest of the bowlers, including Joe Root, bagged a wicket each.

Jason Roy and Alex Hales started things off for England. Hales departed soon off an Umar Gul delivery wile Roy and Root built up the biggedt partnership of the innings. England had 194 runs on the board while it started raining and the play could not be resumed. The hosts were declared the winner using Duckworth and Lewis method.

Considering the performance in the previous game, England who were the better team in those tough conditions as they cruised to a good 44-run win over the visitors. Pakistan, batting first, put up an average total of 260 for 6, courtesy of twin half-centuries from Azhar Ali (82), and Sarfaraz Ahmed (55) and Babar Azam adding a steady 44 in Pakistan’s innings. With rains playing hide and seek, England were well ahead of the par D/L target. At no stage were they in trouble. Despite the fact that Umar Gul picked up an early wicket, Pakistan were never in the game, looking at the way Jason Roy and Joe Root batted.

With the game being held at the Home of cricket in Lord’s, traditionally, the wicket is known to be on the slower side, and the teams would love to go in with an extra spinner. The last ODI, that was played back at this venue was in 2015 against Australia against England, as it was the visitors who won the game by a good margin 64 runs, while it was a high-scoring encounter, with Australia making 309. Interestingly, it was the fast bowlers, who dominated the game, claiming most of the wickets. Nevertheless, with a slow track, it usually assists the spinners, and Pakistan, even without Yasir Shah could be on the advantage. However, England too can play a big role with their spinners.

Among the players, who could play a good role on Saturday’s game, could well be Pakistan’s skipper himself Azhar Ali, who has been in good form with the bat, and also Hafeez, who is known to be destructive with the bat, provided the conditions suit him. Babar Azam, who played a decent knock in the last game, should make the cut, followed by wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed. Not to forget, Shoaib Malik, who too can play great innings when required. Among bowlers, it’s Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz, who would be the men to watch out for, and so would be Imad Wasim and Mohammad Nawaz in the spin department.

As for England, it is a star-studded side, and most of the players would be interesting to look out for, especially in the form of Adil Rashid among the spinners, and Chris Woakes among the pacers. As for the batting, top five batsmen are the important ones and they will bank on them to get a good score on the board.

Eoin Morgan must be pleased with his side’s performance with both bat and ball but will like to add more runs from his willow. He has not been consistent since the series against New Zealand in 2015. He would like to get a big one and lead the team from the front against Pakistan who are an unpredictable side in ODIs.

Azhar’s side, on the other end, need to up their game if they want to avoid a 0-2 margin before leaving from Lord’s. The series will become tougher for them and a comeback against the home team, by down 0-2, in a five-ODI series will be a humongous task for the visitors. Pakistan also have to climb up the ICC ODI rankings as they are tottering at NO. 9 position, reeling below West Indies and Bangladesh.

Rest assured, Pakistan still can never be underestimated, be it any format. Morgan will know about their fighting spirit that was on show in the Test series. And now that Arthur has given ultimatum to everyone on the team sheet, perhaps one or two of them might just pull up their socks and turn up as game-changers.

Expect a cracker of a contest at the Mecca of cricket. Nonetheless, Pakistan’s batsme will have to step up for their team to have a good total on board. England have never looked so dangerous with their batting line-up and to make inroads in their star-studded line-up, Pakistan need to have a big score and defend properly. Another defeat here at Lord’s, where Pakistan have a good record, wil put them on the backfoot in the remaining ODIs of the series.

Squads:

England: Eoin Morgan (c), Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Jos Buttler(wk), Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood, Ben Stokes, Chris Jordan, Liam Dawson

Pakistan: Azhar Ali (c), Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Umar Gul, Mohammad Amir, Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Sami Aslam

FULL CRICKET SCORECARD AND BALL BY BALL COMMENTARY: Pakistan vs England 2016, 2nd ODI at Lord’s

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