England continue their white ball summer on Thursday when they entertain Pakistan in the first match of a three game ODI series with the opener coming from Cardiff as both teams go in search of more World Cup Super Series points.
England would have been widely expected to win the match but they have had to completely change their squad for this series after a Covid link in their first choice one last week. Pakistan will be itching to get out on the park having been cooped up in their Derby bubble since their arrival.
England
England looked to be getting into a nice groove in ODI cricket with a pretty comfortable series win over Sri Lanka last week. The fact they won the series with a match to spare but still didn’t bring fresh faces in for the final game tells us that they are trying to install a winning mentality to their 50 over cricket ahead of their World Cup defence in a couple of years. Those plans have had to go out of the window for now though.
This does offer up the chance for England to see just how much depth they have in their squad. They are going to field a ‘best of the rest’ County XI here with the exception of a couple of players. The one thing all this has done is take away any pressure that might have been on them going into this series. The players who are picked, even though some have a point to prove, can play with a bit of freedom in that this opportunity has come about as a surprise.
Pakistan
Whisper it quietly but Pakistan are actually going along alright in ODI cricket at the minute. They are third in the Super Series standings so there is no danger of them missing out on the next World Cup and now they can show what a good side they are. The one thing I think it is fair to say about them is that they are probably entitled to get better the longer the series goes on given that all they’ve been able to play is against themselves.
One thing which Pakistan will take confidence from heading into this match is that they have won their last three ODIs on this ground. That shouldn’t come as a surprise as the pitches in Cardiff can often be awkward to bat on which brings their bowlers deeply into play. The other thing it does is mean that they don’t need 300+ all the time which suits their batsmen who like to play themselves in before accelerating.
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Team News
England’s team is almost impossible to guess. The one thing we do know is that Ben Stokes will captain the side. The likelihood is that Phil Salt will make his debut as an opener and Ben Duckett will take the gloves. Others expected to be included are Saqid Mahmood, Dawid Malan and James Vince.
Pakistan are expected to give an ODI debut to batsman Saud Shakeel who has recovered from a torn quadriceps which stopped him playing against South Africa recently. Pakistan could play five seamers with Shadab Khan at six.
Betting
Obviously since the news broke about the change in the England squad for this match, the Pakistan price has come in somewhat. I understand that and although I don’t think the XI England will field here will be out of their depth, I do think on this ground that Pakistan hold enough aces to get the job done here. They have a good record in Cardiff where they bowlers can bang the ball into the pitch with the long square boundaries and their batsmen can take their time getting in and things.
The good thing for England is that this entire squad were playing T20 cricket either for England or in the Blast up until last week so it isn’t like the players are coming in cold to the white ball. I think it is fair to expect a few to need a game to adjust to the level though so while I don’t expect England to be outclassed here, I do think Pakistan will win this opening match and there is still enough life in their 4/5 price to back them in this one.
Tips
Back Pakistan to beat England for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
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