England have totally outplayed Pakistan in their ODI series over the last couple of weeks and now on Sunday they go in search of a series whitewash. An escape from the first piece of trouble they have been in all series sent England 4-0 up in Leeds on Thursday and now Cardiff awaits them.
Such is the hectic schedule of modern international cricket these days that in a week from now Pakistan will be back home preparing for the home series against West Indies but they still have pride to play for here and a T20 match to try and target.
England
For the first time in the series England needed their lower and middle order to get them out of a tricky situation in Leeds but the good thing about this England side is the depth with which they bat and that hole soon became a cruise as England finally got home with a couple of overs to spare.
England took the luxury of resting a couple of players who needed the rest in the last match to bring in a couple who needed some game time and that is likely to be their plan for this finale although with five match series whitewashes quite rare I don’t think England will weaken the team any.
Pakistan
It was probably Pakistan’s best match of the series so far in Leeds but they still couldn’t get the job done which will have disappointed them and suddenly the realisation that they are not guaranteed to be in the 2019 World Cup is becoming stronger. You would still expect Pakistan to qualify for it even if they needed to come through a qualifying tournament but there is no doubt their one day cricket is stuck in a dark age at present.
They seem unwilling as well as unable to hit expansively at the top of their innings and although they often finish their innings well the damage has always been done by then. Even when they have had to chase it has been no different and England’s batting depth hurts them even more then.
Team News
You can never really second guess teams at this stage of series especially with the series having been decided but Liam Dawson is yet to feature at all in it so it may not be beyond the realms of possibility that he gets some game time here. Moeen Ali could get a rest having played most of the summer.
Pakistan are forced into a change as Mohammad Irfan’s appearance on these shores was a brief one. He has gone home with injury so Wahab Riaz or Mohammad Amir are in line to replace him. Whether Pakistan want to change up their batting line up remains to be seen.
Cardiff
There have been 18 previous ODIs on this ground but it isn’t a place where England play regularly. In fact this will be just their 10th appearance here. In the previous nine matches they have five wins and a defeat with three no results. Pakistan have a loss and a no result from their two trips to the Welsh capital.
While the limited overs cricket domestically can be played on some low and slow wickets the international track tends to play a lot better. The last two matches here have had first innings scores over 300 despite the boundaries here not being the easiest to access. They are quite short straight but they are huge square so expect plenty of short bowling.
Betting
I’m not going to go too mad on this final match of the series. As I’ve said already this week I’m not a huge fan of betting in dead rubbers and nothing has changed ahead of this match.
The one bet I do like is for there to be less than 10 sixes. There has never been an ODI on this ground which hasn’t been rain affected that has had 10 sixes in it and I’m not convinced this one will either. There is more chance if England bat first but even then with a 10.30 start after a day of rain that isn’t certain and we’ve seen all series if Pakistan bat first the sixes totals tend to stay low.
History and the current trend of the series dictates that this line is probably a shade high and I’m going to follow those guides and side with under 10 sixes here.
Tips
WON – Back Under 10 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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