England versus Pakistan 2nd T20I : Preview

England and Pakistan will face each other once again during the second T20 International between the teams at Manchester, later this day.

England and Pakistan will face each other once again during the second T20 International between the teams at Manchester, later this day.

With the first match being abandoned due to a rain struck afternoon, both teams will be looking to get a positive result from today’s match.

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While Pakistan would look to emulate their performance in the field from the other day, England batsmen will hope to step-up their game for this showdown.

Pakistan applied early pressure on England in the previous game by taking the wicket of Jonny Bairstow. The other opener in Tom Banton was given a lifeline as well when Iftikhar Ahmed dropped an easy catch off Shaheen Afridi’s bowling. Tom Banton however, went on to play a fantastic knock of 71 and took England past the total of 100 under 12 overs.

A comeback by the Pakistani bowlers led by their leg-spinner Shadab Khan, saw England reach a 131 runs at the loss of 6 wickets by the start of the sixteenth over. The match was then intervened by some heavy showers which never seemed to take off on time, and the game was eventually abandoned due to a very wet outfield.

Despite the undesirable end to the day for Pakistan, they have a lot of positives to take into the 2nd T20, whereas England will have to regain their form if they wanna have any chance of outplaying the team from Pakistan.

Form guide(last five completed matches, most recent first)

England WWLWW
Pakistan WWLLL

Team news

With the first T20I rained off before England had a bowl and nothing standing out conspicuously enough to demand correction, it’s unlikely Morgan’s side will line up any differently for the second match.

England (possible): 1. Tom Banton, 2. Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3. Dawid Malan, 4. Eoin Morgan (capt), 5. Moeen Ali, 6. Sam Billings, 7. Lewis Gregory, 8. Tom Curran, 9. Chris Jordan, 10. Adil Rashid, 11. Saqib Mahmood

Pakistan opted heavily for experience over youth, at least as far as the batting lineup went. In the bowling ranks, however, Haris Rauf got the nod ahead of Wahab Riaz, and ended up proving the most expensive of the lot. The left-armer should fancy his chances of inclusion this time around.

Pakistan (possible): 1. Babar Azam (capt), 2. Fakhar Zaman, 3. Mohammad Hafeez, 4. Shoaib Malik, 5. Shadab Khan, 6. Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7. Iftikhar Ahmed, 8. Imad Wasim, 9. Mohammad Amir, 10. Wahab Riaz/Haris Rauf, 11. Shaheen Afridi

Pitch and conditions

It’s the same venue as the first Test, and with the same strip being used, there shouldn’t be much variation in the nature of the contest. The weather, though, is far more encouraging, and while the evening should be nippy, rain is unlikely to play a part.