England and Pakistan drop the whites and stick on the coloured clothing to finish one of the more remarkable tours of the country for the Asian side when the two nations meet in the first of three T20 internationals at Old Trafford on Friday.
The rain hampered much of the Test series which ended earlier in the week but thankfully the forecast for the Manchester area is pretty good around game time here so we should get a cracking game of cricket to open the series up with.
England
Given that they have had to use separate squads for the red ball and white ball bubbles, England are not going to be at full strength for this series, but that doesn’t mean that they are out of their depth or anything like that. In fact, with two World T20s coming up over the next two years, everyone in action here has the chance to showcase their talents and push for a place in the squad for the first of those in India next year.
England traditionally haven’t always taken this format seriously so being without some of their better players is nothing new for them. They’ll be looking for players to step up and be counted in the finishing positions with the bat, and with the ball as well. If they can restrict a good batting line up here and put up runs against a decent bowling attack, none of the players on show will have done themselves any harm at all.
Pakistan
One area where Pakistan might be advantaged is the fact that their whole party has been together in England throughout the last period of time. That means they have been able to name their strongest squad for these three matches, and it also means that they have been able to practice against each other, which should not just have got them sharp enough to compete, but in theory they should be nicely prepared for the challenge here as their inner squad games might be against a higher standard than England will offer here.
It doesn’t really matter which format it is, Pakistan always come with a very strong bowling attack and the fact that the Pakistan Super League was going ahead when lockdown came, they probably have the pick of those on offer to them right now which is a major advantage. You are always concerned that they will have a mare with the bat, but actually when you look down their order man for man, there isn’t much of a weakness there.
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Team News
England were always going to be without the likes of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Joe Root and Jofra Archer for this series but they are now without Jason Roy too as he has picked up an injury. That all gives the likes of Tom Banton, Dawid Malan, David Willey and Saqib Mahmood more chances to show their worth.
Pakistan will offer up a much more experienced side for this encounter. The likes of Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir could all feature in this game. There will also be a chance for the exciting Haider Ali to light things up.
Betting
I like Pakistan here. We’ve seen throughout the Test series that their players have been practicing religiously so there is no danger of them being underprepared like some sides can be after a long break. England might be on the other hand. Apart from three run outs against Ireland, the third of which they got smashed all round Southampton, the only cricket this set of players would have had are the odd red ball game. This is an inexperienced England batting line up in this format. With the exception of Morgan, the rest of the likely top five have just 66 T20Is between them so there is a gap for Pakistan to exploit and with Old Trafford likely to suit their attack I think Pakistan are value at 11/8.
Another bet that is good value is Sam Billings to top score for England. England aren’t going to find it easy to bat in the powerplay in this series. If the wily spin of Imad Wasim doesn’t get them then the seam quality of Amir and Afridi is likely to. It might be easier to bat with the field out which makes me think Billings is a huge price at 10/1. He has shots all around the wicket and can score against seam and spin. He was in great touch in the series against Ireland earlier in the summer and with something to prove as he looks to go to India for the World T20 next year I’ll take a punt on him at a tidy price.
Tips
VOID – Back Pakistan to win 1st T20 for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with Coral
Back them here:
Back S.Billings Top England Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 11.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
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