Pakistan vs England, Semi-final 1, ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Jason Roy vs Mohammad Aamer and other key clashes

Facing Mohammad Aamer, who is one of the most experienced bowlers from Pakistan’s bowling attack, it will be difficult for Jason Roy to last long at the crease with low confidence level.

The ICC Champions Trophy 2017 so far has been far from predictable, thanks to the upsets in both the groups. Proving all the predictions wrong, Bangladesh and Pakistan have made it to the semi-final stage, knocking out Australia and South Africa in their respective groups. But both teams now have big tasks in hand in order to advance to the final. In the first semi-final, Pakistan will face England, the team that has not lost a single match. Though Pakistan look a changed side since their defeat to India, there is still a long way to go for them to face an all-round England. Here are the probable key battles that can be expected during the clash. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: ENG vs PAK, Champions Trophy 2017

Jason Roy vs Mohammad Aamer: Jason Roy, looking at his hard-hitting abilities and form in the matches prior to the tournament, was being touted to emerge as one of the leading run-getters but the story turned out to be something different. In the three matches, Roy has failed to read the ball and went for wrong shot selection, which has cost him his wicket. Facing Mohammad Aamer, who is one of the most experienced bowlers from Pakistan’s bowling attack, it will be difficult for him to last long at the crease with low confidence level. Given the conditions, if Aamer manages to produce good movement early on, it will be a huge challenge for Roy to avoid another miserable score.

Fakhar Zaman vs Jake Ball: New entrant Fakhar Zaman has done a terrific job matching up to the high intensity of the tournament as well as performing consistently to push his side’s batting to reach up to this level. However, an art he is yet to master is patience. Zaman has been trapped in both the occasions by variation of pace in bouncers by the opponent bowlers, a job Jake Ball can pull off. Height being an advantage for Ball, he has been efficient to mix bouncers in his spells. It will be interesting to see what Zaman comes up with to face Ball.

Alex Hales vs Imad Wasim: England players are not accustomed to play against quality spin and an in-form Imad Wasim can well be an option to stop in-form Alex Hales. The Cardiff pitch has so far in the tournament behaved differently than how it traditionally does and the spinners have been quite successful in this tournament. Hales has twice been dismissed by a spinner in this tournament and once by a pacer who bowled him in the corridor. Imad can prove to be lethal for Hales, turning the ball away from right-handed batsman.

Sarfraz Ahmed vs Liam Plunkett: The head of the snake is always the target of the opponents and after his match-winning knock against Sri Lanka, Sarfraz will surely be one of the priced wickets for England in Wednesday’s clash. Plunkett, who has picked a 4-for so far in the tournament, would like to add another feather to his hat with the wicket of opponent captain while Sarfraz, one of the most experienced Pakistan batsmen, will be a hard target for him.

Mohammad Hafeez vs Mark Wood: Talk about 4-fors and England have Mark Wood, who has not only dismissed the likes of David Warner and Steven Smith in the tournament but also impressed with the way he has bowled. Hafeez will be the pillar of experience in Pakistan’s top-order batting and it will be interesting to see how Hafeez deals with him.

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