England vs Pakistan | 1st T20I at Old Trafford - Statistical Preview
After edging out Pakistan in Tests, England and Pakistan - easily two of the most exciting teams in T20I cricket - is expected to play a mouth-watering clash of titans. Test series winner England, who will have a totally different squad, will look to continue their dominant run though.
Form guide
England - W W L W W
England might well be missing the services of their superstars Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer for the T20I series against Pakistan, but they have developed such a strong reserve squad in white-ball cricket that it will be one heck of a task to topple them for Babar Azam's men. England enthralled one and all when last time they played a T20I series against South Africa, earlier this year, which was nerve-wracking with all the three T20Is going down to the final over with the Poms winning by 2-1. England have a red-hot streak going on as they have been unbeaten in any bilateral T20I series for more than two years now. Beware, Pakistan!
Pakistan - W W L L L
Pakistan are a truly an unpredictable team. There was a point in time in the last four years when Pakistan were not only the top-ranked T20I side but also had 11 consecutive series victories. But 2019 marked the doom of an indomitable team, and Pakistan could win just one game out of 10 in the whole calendar year. They have a young side with the potential to again get back what was theirs- the no.1 ranking, but at the moment the sky looks a fairly distant from the ground. This year, they won the two T20Is that they played against Bangladesh, but taking on England at their backyard, is as arduous a challenge as it gets. But it's Pakistan and their unpredictability never ceases to amaze, so never say never.
Key Batsmen
England- Eoin Morgan
As much as talks there are around Eoin Morgan's captaincy, he is a very fine white-ball batsman, which generally gets overlooked. It isn't as easy to stand-out all the time when a team has a band of glittering stars like Stokes, Buttler, Bairstow and Roy. Last time, when Morgan batted in an international fixture, he made an 84-ball-106 against Ireland albeit in a losing cause. The southpaw had a great time in South Africa T20Is as well, where the captain led from the front and thumped 136 runs in three games at a strike-rate of 170. Morgan also loves batting against Pakistan and has a stupendous average of 42.86 against them in T20Is. Pakistanis, better watch out for this Irishman!
Pakistan- Babar Azam
Babar Azam is such a beautiful stroke player that there can be a whole book written on his cover drives, which are counted among wonders of the world, for the human eyes, especially for cricket fanatics like us. The Pakistani skipper takes his game to a sky-high level in white-ball cricket and given his decent but-not-so-exceptional performance in the preceding Test series, he will do everything to make the T20Is count and show the world why he is the 'Babar Azam'. The 29-year-old has made three fifties in his last five T20I appearances and given the fact that he averages a stupendous 80 with a strike-rate of 150.94 against England, the hosts will need to unleash every plan possible to faze the backbone of the Men in Green.
Key Bowlers
England- David Willey
T20 cricket is all about packages. And David Willey is a great all-round package for England and given the red-hot form he is in, Pakistan will need to be wary of him. The Northampton-born pacer had a blast against Ireland and was taking wickets and making runs for fun. Ever since Willey has re-discovered his zip, he has looked potent with the new ball. He also brings in the variation of left-arm angle, which makes him a very good proposition. Overall as well, he has a very decent record in T20Is with 34 wickets in 28 games with an economy of 8.19.
Pakistan- Mohammed Amir
Mohammad Amir will add the much-needed experience to the Pakistani side in the three-match T20I series, which the side certainly missed in the Test series. Amir is a gun bowler when it comes to the shortest format of the game. Not only does he has the ability to bamboozle opposition with the new ball, but he is also very effective in delivering excruciating blows in the death overs. The 28-year-old has a terrific economy rate of 6.97 after making 48 T20I appearances, which looks all the more exceptional when combined with his tally of 59 wickets. Pakistan will certainly have high expectations from the leader of their bowling attack, who is a match-winner on his day.
Venue Statistics
Since 2017 at Old Trafford, the overall run rate has been 7.98 runs per over in T20s, which gives us an idea that 160 will be par score. When it comes to the pitch, it favours spinners. The economy rate of spinners at the venue since 2017 in T20s has been 7.27, while seamers have conceded 8.57 per over. England have played seven T20Is in Manchester winning three and losing two games. Pakistan won the lone game that has been played at this venue between both the sides.
1XBET Predictions
1XBET will be counting on Babar Azam to score a 70-odd and anchor the innings for the Men in Green. Not only does Babar absolutely loves pressure, for he thrives in the shortest format and will be a knight in shining armour.
England Predicted XI: 1 Tom Banton 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk) 3 Dawid Malan 4 Eoin Morgan (capt) 5 Sam Billings 6 Moeen Ali 7 Tom Curran 8 Dawid Willey 9 Chris Jordan 10 Adil Rashid 11 Saqib Mahmood
Pakistan Predicted XI: 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Shadab Khan, 4 Haider Ali, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Mohammad Rizwan/Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 7 Iftikhar Ahmed, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Shaheen Afridi
Venue: Emirates, Old Trafford, Manchester.
When to Watch: Aug 28 - 10:30 PM IST
Where to Watch: Sony Six, Sony Liv and Jio TV