The penultimate match of what is fast becoming a pulsating T20 series between Pakistan and England takes place on Friday when the two sides meet for the sixth time in seven, with the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore the venue once again.
Pakistan trailed 2-1 in the series but have won two on the spin to move 3-2 in front. They can seal the series with a win here but England will have something to say about that as they go in search of a deciding game.
Pakistan
You have to admire Pakistan. They have basically played with two batters throughout the series in terms of contribution but they haven’t let that bring them down and continue to find ways to post a score their bowlers can defend. It helps their batting that anything around par and sometimes not even par can be defended by those bowlers but you just wonder if they can go to Australia for the T20 World Cup and be successful without some real help from their middle order.
We certainly know that Pakistan have the bowlers to do some damage down in Australia next month but we saw last year in the semi-final that when that department were under pressure in unfavourable conditions it got found out and that is the concern. Pakistan continue to play the same batters but at some point they need to switch the order around to maximise the talents that they have. At the minute whenever an opener goes one end gets completely tied up.
England
England haven’t given the impression that they are disappointed to be behind in the series and I suspect a reason for that is they are using these games to build cohesion and combinations ahead of the T20 World Cup but deep down they have to be smarting that they have lost the last two games. It is perfectly feasible that they could have had the series won by now but they have messed up two favourable looking run chases and now have to win to force a decider.
England have bowled very well in the series apart from that second match and even a dropped catch there proved pivotal. It probably helps that they have been bowling to two batters but they have still got the job done. Where they are offering up a concern is at the top of the order where their openers can’t seem to get off to a fast start. That won’t matter too much if Jos Buttler is fit for the World Cup but just in case he goes down in that tournament it would suit England if Phil Salt and Alex Hales can get some runs before this series ends.
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Team News
Mohammad Rizwan didn’t field in the second innings in the last game and there has been talk about giving him a rest throughout the series but you would imagine they will look to get the series won before that happens. Naseem Shah has tested positive for Covid so Pakistan could be unchanged.
England are unlikely to send Chris Woakes and Mark Wood in consecutive matches so this might be a match where Reece Topley gets a go. Liam Dawson could return with the wickets here a little more sluggish than in Karachi. Jordan Cox and Tom Helm await their debuts and could have that wait extended.
Betting
The run line for this match is 336.5 which I might have been interesting in covering in Karachi but not here in Lahore. The first match here got nowhere near that number and in fact you have to go back a fair while for the last time a T20 international covered this line on this ground. There have been 11 games here since the last time the under would have been busted and I saw nothing the other night to suggest that is a trend which is about to change.
If Pakistan lose an early wicket then we know they are going to struggle to post a score and while England are batting a lot better throughout the order than Pakistan, this Pakistan attack seem to have its number at the minute. The last two matches in this series have been fairly low scoring and the pitch on Wednesday was quite sluggish and hard to score on. The more these pitches are played on the harder scoring will get so the under looks a good thing to me.
Tips
Back Under 336.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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