RAWALPINDI
As this tri-series moves to Pakistan’s cricketing power centre in Lahore, there is a clear divergence between what the country’s most-fervent crowd wants and what the tournament needs. Victory for the home side risks qualification for the final being decided well before the end of the group stage.
It would secure Pakistan’s place in next Saturday’s final, putting England on the cusp of elimination after what would be a third straight ODI defeat.
A tri-series can, however, turn on a dime. No side is yet guaranteed a final berth, even if Pakistan fly into this game off the back of two convincing wins – both achieved in impressive defences of below-par totals after losing the toss.
They need one win in their next two games not to leave them sweating on the outcome of the group stage’s final game between England and Sri Lanka.
Especially since the game just gone between those two demonstrated you can never quite tell what to expect. A punch-drunk England reel into this game off the back of an epic failure to defend 429, the second worst defence of a total in ODI cricket history. Their attempt at a chase in their opening game against Pakistan wasn’t much flashier either after they squandered a stellar start by the openers to lose 7 for 50 and fold forlornly for 215 and an 87-run defeat.
Harry Brook, whose 202 on Thursday made him the only double-centurion in ODI cricket to end up on the losing side, found his captaincy under scrutiny against Pakistan earlier this tournament, but against Sri Lanka, he could do less about his bowlers’ ordinary execution. No pace bowler truly managed to keep a lid on Sri Lanka’s onslaught at the death. Sam Curran, who has of late been soft-launched as a batting rather than bowling ODI allrounder, was nonetheless called upon to bowl nine overs, only to end up conceding 103. Adil Rashid’s exclusion was a surprise despite a recent drop-off in form, highlighted only further by England’s failed defence.
Pakistan, for once, have the rare luxury of going into a game where they aren’t the crisis team, and the attention isn’t squarely upon them. So far, the men in green have done their job fairly clinically, and with very little drama accompanying them. They will instead wear pink for this gsame, with the ODI dedicated to breast cancer awareness. It is, however, their opponents who currently look a pale hue of their best self.
