Match Preview: England eye win over Pakistan in series of attrition

The prediction of this match is no-brainer. If England does something out of the ordinary, they will be at the brink of victory, keeping in mind Pakistan's knack of pulling off the improbable. However, Pakistan can draw the series only if they play well as a cohesive team.

England, for the past few years, have been exhibiting marvelous show of character in all the formats of the game after the ICC World Cup 2015 debacle. The four-Test series against Pakistan, however, has narrated the same story. After being one down in the series, the Englishmen knew they should take nothing for granted if they were to waltz to glory against the ever-improving Pakistan team. After dishing out strategies and toiling hard to sensibly execute them, they, now, lead the series 2-1, with one more contest to play. Misbah-ul-Haq’s men, on the other hand, failed the test of endurance, losing the sessions that belonged to them. Full Cricket Scorecard, England  vs  Pakistan , 4th Test match

All in all, the series managed to revive Test cricket. Hundreds, five-fors, swing, spin, fight backs, downfalls: it has been a perfectly scripted series, with both teams leaving no stone unturned to reach the finishing line.

The home team announced an unchanged 13-man squad for the fourth and final Test at The Oval, the same venue Pakistan emerged triumphant in 2010, beating England by four wickets. If the visitors emulate the same, they will pull off an improbable 2-2 results.

James Vince, who suffered an injury to his ring finger in the previous, is declared fit. With scores of 16, 42, 18, 39 and 42, Vince will be itching to make amends and make his mark. Also read: James Vince, Gary Ballance & Alex Hales race against time

England, nonetheless, have no loophole in their batting armoury. Even Gary Ballance, who struggled to find his feet initially in the series, scored a fluent 70 in the last Test. To make things matters worse for Pakistan, England’s bowling — both pace and spin — have been at its commanding best.

James Anderson is back to where he deserves to be: No. 1 in ICC Test rankings. Other pacers such as Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Steven Finn rarely miss their line and length. Moreover, off-spinner Moeen Ali, when handed a ball, always chips in with wickets; in fact, crucial wickets. Given this, they are likely to win the series 3-1.

On the other hand, Pakistan also have all the weapons in their armoury to outplay the English. However, application is one aspect they need work on. The veteran Younis Khan, for example, have had starts but failed to convert it into a big score. If truth be told, having starts isn’t the issue they are facing. They, as a matter of fact, couldn’t play well as a well-integrated team.

It was Misbah and Yasir Shah in the first match at Lord’s who led the resurgence. And then Azhar Ali and Sohail Khan who displayed magnificent show in the previous Test, but, yet again, there was absolute no teamwork, something the Pakistan cricket is known for. Also read: PAK’s peculiar rise and bizzare fall are hard to grasp

The prediction of this match is no-brainer. If England does something out of the ordinary, they will be at the brink of victory, keeping in mind Pakistan’s knack of pulling off the improbable. On the other hand, Pakistan can draw the series only if they play well as a cohesive team.

This series has been an amalgamation of drama and conventional cricket. And the final Test promises to deliver the same.

Squads:

England: Alastair Cook(c), Alex Hales, Joe Root, James Vince, Gary Ballance, Jonny Bairstow(wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, Jake Ball, Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, James Anderson

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq(c), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed(wk), Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Aamer, Rahat Ali, Sami Aslam, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Imran Khan, Zulfiqar Babar, Sohail Khan.

Time: 15.30 IST | 11.00 local | 10.00 GMT

(Kaustubh S. Mayekar, a reporter at CricketCountry, played cricket at U-16 level. Like his idol Rahul Dravid, he often shadow-practises cricket shots. His Twitter handle is @kaumedy_)

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