England and Pakistan meet again in the 2nd T20I of the 3-matches T20I series at Old Trafford.
Team Previews
England’s weather is giving tough time to the UK’s home summer. After washed-out affairs at T20 Blast, rain played a spoilsport in the first T20I. Both sides face off each other in the Sunday encounter to take 1-0 lead. In the rain-affected affair, Pakistan opted to bowl first and it was a close game before rain stopped the game. English young opener Tom Banton entertained with 71 off 42 balls. Hosts slipped from 109-2 to 123-6, which might be a worrying sign for England ahead of the 2nd T20I. England didn’t lose a single wicket against pacers but they failed against the spinners like Shadab and Imad.
Pakistan made the good use of both spinners and they would keen to carry a similar performance in the next game. Haris Rauf had an off day with the ball but Rizwan impressed again with his wicket-keeping skills. Both sides may go with a similar XI but Pakistan might drop Rauf for Naseem. The captaincy was also bold as Pakistan started with the spin and they succeed with Bairstow’s wicket. Iftikhar was also impressive with ball and he might get a proper bowling spell. England looks to avoid collapse at the crucial phase of the game. It might be another cracking T20 at Manchester if the weather favours some cricketing action on Sunday.
Pitch Report
Old Trafford, Manchester offers good amount of runs and it helps spinners as we saw in the last game. Weather can again interrupt the game so chasing would be an ideal call. Any score above 160 can be tricky against a good bowling lineup.
Possible XI
England
Tom Banton, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan (c), Sam Billings, Moeen Ali, Tom Curran, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood
Pakistan
Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Haris Rauf/Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi
Key Players
England
Dawid Malan
M: 6, Runs: 242, Avg: 48.40, SR: 149.38
Eoin Morgan
Last 10 T20Is – Runs: 399, Avg: 57, SR: 183.02
Pakistan
Babar Azam
Last 9 T20Is – Runs: 224, Avg: 37.33, SR: 123.75
Iftikhar Ahmed
T20Is – M: 8, Runs: 166, Avg: 55.33, SR: 141.88
