Pakistan is ready to face England for the third Test starting on Saturday at National Stadium, Karachi. The men in green have lost the first two Tests of the series, with the visitors dominating them on their home soil. The Stokes-led group secured a win in the second Test by just 26 runs at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
If there’s any team that has achieved the most when it comes to ICC trophies in the last couple of three years, it’s none other than Team England. They still have a chance to make it to the World Test Championship Final, but an impossible one. With these two wins, they have thrashed the hopes of the men in the green of getting into the final.
Getting defeated like this in a Test series, and that too on home soil is not something that any team would like to experience, but the Englishmen totally dominated and outclassed the men in green. With a game left in the Test series, team Babar will look to finish the series with a win.
What have they done so far?
In the second Test, there were a lot of positives for both teams, with the debutant Abrar Ahmed taking seven wickets in the first innings and four in the second showing how he can be useful in Asian conditions.
Saud Shakeel stepped up scoring 63 in the first innings building a partnership with captain Babar Azam who scored 75, and Shakeel continued his rhythm and scored 94 in the second innings.
Saud Shakeel shines in the second Test as he scores half-centuries in both of the innings
If Naseem Shah will be fit, he might replace Mohammad Ali in the last match of the series and provide the swing he is best at. Pakistan may or may not add a batter to replace Abdullah Shafique and play Shan Masood instead.
On the other hand, the Ben Stokes-led group is doing nothing wrong in the longest format of the game with their ‘Bazball’ technique. James Anderson delivered yet again and took three wickets in the second Test. Mark Wood had an amazing time on the Multan soil as he picked up six wickets.
When it comes to batting, English batters are collectively contributing to winning the series. Harry Brook in the second innings, scored 108, making a partnership with Ben Ducket, who scored 79 taking England’s lead to 354.
The third Test is supposed to be a dead rubber for the Englishmen as they have already won the series, but with the approach they have, they will not be casual about the last Test of the series.
Although, we can see a few changes in order to give the game time to those who are sitting on the bench. Jamie Overton can replace Jimmy Anderson, in order to give rest to the latter. While Pakistan will look to save itself from getting whitewashed on its home soil.
Head to Head Record
England has dominated Pakistan when it comes to head to heads between the two sides in men’s Test cricket. Englishmen have won 28 of the 88 encounters between the two sides, and Pakistan has won just 21. 39 of these matches ended up in a draw, and team Babar would love a draw if they will not be in a position to win the game.
However, the win in the second match gives a total of four wins to the Englishmen on Pakistan soil so far, whereas the Shaheens have won four as well in their home conditions and let’s see if they can add up to this total by the result of the third match.
Key Players
Babar Azam (Pakistan): The Pakistan captain tends to be the only batter in the team who can play long innings and trouble Stokes. Although he had support from Saud Shakeel in the second match, if he scores, he can take his team through to a win which explains why he is a key player.
Azam scored one century in this series which came in the first match, and in the first innings of the second match, he managed to score 75. So, it seems like he is in touch but needs to continue his momentum in the third match to help Pakistan to be in a comfortable position.
A player like him comes in ages, and he has shown what he can do at the age of just 28. He is ranked third in the ICC test rankings and has scored over 3300 runs in 44 matches with an average of almost 48. Let’s see what he can do in the last match of the series.
Brook dominated the Pakistan conditions and scored his second ton of the series
Harry Brook (England): Having played just three games, Brook has already shown what he is capable of doing even in the toughest conditions. In two games against Pakistan, Brook has already registered two centuries i.e. most by anyone in the series so far.
He has been in exceptional touch and knows how to build innings in the longest and the toughest format of the game. He has played just three Tests in his career so far and has scored 369 runs, including two centuries and one half-century, with an average of almost 74.
Predicted Playing XI
England: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope (wk), Joe Root, Ben Stokes ©, Harry Brook, Will Jacks, Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach, Mark Wood, James Anderson/Jamie Overton
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique/Shan Masood, Babar Azam ©, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Naseem Shah/Mohammad Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Zahid Mahmood
Prediction
With the Stokes-led group dominating the Pakistan team, it looks like England will have no problems whitewashing the hosts. The ‘Bazball’ technique appears to be working very well for the team, and having results are all a team wants in the longest format of the game.
Pakistan would even try for a draw if not win as they would not want a visiting team to come and outclass them completely. But England looks stronger enough to win the third one in a row and carry on the winning momentum.