Published: Sep 04, 2016, 02:29 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 04, 2016, 11:24 PM (IST)
Greetings everyone! Welcome to CricketCountry’s live match coverage of the final ODI between Pakistan and England. Hosts are more or less set to whitewash Pakistan in the final clash between these teams at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. England have played with positive intent and have so far taken their side to 4-0. In contrast, Pakistan are lost and are still to find solace amongst all the chaos. As for the England batsmen Alex Hales, Jos Buttler, Joe Root and Ben Stokes along with their skipper Eoin Morgan have been at their best form this ODI series. Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett and Chris Woakes have been the pick of the bowlers for England. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs England, 5th ODI at Cardiff
Considering the Cardiff pitch is more towards the slower side, England bowlers have to tinker their methods. England have superior batting army right from Hales to Bairstow, who replaced the injured Buttler in the previous game. In contrast, Pakistan have no means to progress further. Visitors have been unable to go beyond the 250-run mark as opposed to the total of 300 plus that England intend to move. Pakistan have no other batsmen who have stood up to the cause apart from skipper Azhar Ali, Imad Wasim and Sharjeel Khan.
Pakistan virtually have nothing but pride to play for in this match and need to improve drastically, if they are to beat England in this match. With Champions Trophy 2017 scheduled to be played from June next year, given England’s excellent form at home, they may go into this tournaments as one of the favourites. In this day and age, targets of 250 or 260 are never going to be easy to defend, especially against a side like England, who bat very deep. ALSO READ: PAK vs ENG, 5th ODI at Cardiff: Wasim vs Stokes and other key battles
Ali knows the whereabouts of ODI cricket while Sami Aslam, his partner in the top-order, has been unable to find the right gap. Aslam was the one who scored quick fire 45-ball 50 against Bangladesh in 2015 and Aslam has been unable to get much runs under his belt. This keeps his chances to stay in the ODI squad bleak. Aslam is new to ODI cricket and the opening slot is perhaps a good chance for him to spend a lot of time in the middle, get your eye in and then go for your shots. Azhar, as we have seen in the past, can make up for the dots in the latter stages, but a big score has eluded him in this series.
Shoaib Malik was the requirement for Pakistan and they did pay the price for benching him away for the fourth ODI. Given the troubles that have been caused, Malik should find his way back in for the final game to bring some experience into play. Now that Mohammad Irfan has returned back due to injury, that opens the door for Mohammad Aamer back into the final game. Yasir Shah could also be the need of the hour given the pitch in Cardiff.
If Buttler remains injured, Bairstow might find his spot in the final clash against Pakistan. David Willey and Chris Jordan got a game in the previous ODI, but England will want Wood and Woakes back in action for the final game. With the series already won, it will not be the worst of ideas to give Liam Dawson and Jake Ball their ODI debuts. Ball made his Test debut at Lord’s in the first game against Pakistan, while Dawson’s only international game was the recent T20I against Sri Lanka at Southampton. ALSO READ: PAK vs ENG 2016, 5th ODI at Cardiff: Likely XI for ENG
As far as statistics are concerned, Joe Root, who went past 3,000 ODI runs in the previous match is the leading run-scorer in this series. Root missed out on becoming the first English batsman to score six consecutive 50-plus scores in ODIs. As for Pakistan Sarfraz stands tall as the leading run-scorer with total of 210 runs.
Picking up wickets has been a major problem for Pakistan bowlers. Their highest wicket-taker so far is Hasan Ali with four wickets in three games. Pakistan currently ranked ninth in the ICC ODI rankings know that every game from now, for the next year is going to be crucial for them as an automatic qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is at stake. ICC have announced that only 10 teams will play the mega event, out of which two will qualify after playing the qualifiers.
Pakistan’s last series win came against Sri Lanka a year back and if they soon do not make drastic improvements to their game, they will be unable to win another series for a long time. Rain may play a part in this game. It will be overcast throughout the day and we may have a few spells of rain. ALSO READ: PAK vs ENG 2016, 5th ODI at Cardiff: Hosts aim to be invincible
England and Pakistan have a one off T20I lined up. If Pakistan want to survive in this series they will need to bring their A game in T20I game. There will once again change of leader for T20I as Sarfraz takes the thinking hat. Their most senior player Shahid Afridi has been axed for this match, after a string of poor performances over the last few months.
Squads:
Pakistan: Sami Aslam, Sharjeel Khan, Azhar Ali(c), Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed(wk), Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Rizwan, Umar Gul
England: Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Jos Buttler(wk), Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Liam Dawson
Catch Live Cricket Scorecard and ball-by-ball updates of the match here
