The third match of the four-match T20I series between Pakistan and England will take place in Cardiff on Tuesday at 11 PM IST. Both teams are focusing on honing their squads and assessing individuals in preparation for the highly anticipated T20 World Cup.
A few of the England team’s players played in the IPL before coming back home for this T20I series. Both teams will be playing their last T20I series before heading into the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup without playing any warm-up games in the host country.
What has happened so far?
England toured the West Indies in December 2023 to play a five-match T20I series that was won 3-2 by the hosts.
Despite the series loss, there were some positives for the Jos Buttler-led side, as Phil Salt was the top run scorer of the T20I series with 331 runs and Adil Rashid was the leading wicket-taker of the T20I series with 9 wickets.
The Pakistan team toured Ireland for a three-match T20I series before coming to England for this series. After losing the opening game of the series, the Babar Azam-led side turned things around and won the series by 2-1.
During the series, the Pakistan team performed brilliantly as a unit, and the top run scorers from the series were Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, with 132 runs each. Shaheen Shah Afridi was the highest wicket-taker with 7 wickets.
Head to Head Record
Pakistan and England have competed in 29 matches in the shortest format of the game, with England winning 19 of these 29 games, while the men in green have managed to win only 9 of the fixtures and one game ending without any result.
England has won seven of their twelve matches played on English soil, while Pakistan has won only four games, with one game ending without any result.
Key Players
Phil Salt had been in good form for the past few weeks
Phil Salt (England): In recent weeks, Phil Salt has been experiencing an incredible run at bat. His performances in the 2024 Indian Premier League pushed him to the status of one of the world’s most potent opening batters.
He had a memorable run at the IPL 2024, as he had amassed 435 runs at a magnificent strike rate of 182.01. After getting out cheaply in the second T20I, Salt will be looking to make a comeback in the upcoming game.
Babar Azam (Pakistan): The leading scorer for Pakistan, Babar Azam, has been instrumental in his team’s run-scoring. The 29-year-old has been in excellent form lately and will be a formidable threat to teams at the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup.
Babar has led the team from the front so far and will be a key player for his team, as he is in great touch. In the recently completed three-match T20I series, he scored 132 runs with an average of 44. He played a 32-run innings in the second T20I and would be looking to score big runs in the remaining matches of this series.
Predicted XIs
England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler © (wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam ©, Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
Prediction
Both teams will be looking to get their combinations right in the remaining couple of games of the series. England have the upper hand in head-to-head clashes, and they will be looking to seal the series by winning the third T20I.
On the other hand, Pakistan will be eyeing a comeback to level the series and a great battle between these two sides is expected on Tuesday.