England demolished Pakistan in the third ODI of the five-match contest, and clinched the series with that commanding win. Now, England will be keen to build upon the victory as they face Pakistan in the fourth ODI at Headingley in Leeds on Thursday.
Pakistan, after playing some decent cricket in the Test series, which finished 2-2, have not been able to impress in the ODI format. They have been outplayed in all departments of the game by the home team.
Pakistan, despite three losses on the trot against England, will be keen to play better cricket and hope to finish the series on a high with two wins, as a 3-2 scoreline will definitely look better. The Men in Green will be playing for pride in the remaining two ODI matches.
Make no mistake, England with their stunning 169-runs win in the third ODI, will be a confident side in the fourth match. They will go for the kill, and try to whitewash the ODI series, which will be a huge achievement for a side, which exited from the group stages of the 2015 ICC World Cup.
The third ODI witnessed England breaking records galore, including the highest team total, as they scored 444 runs. Chris Woakes, despite a dominating performance from the batsmen, believes it was not a perfect all-round performance, and wants England to improve.
"We realise there's still a lot of improvement to make, we aren't the finished article, and I think that showed in the first two games of the series - although we were winning we felt we could improve and we showed that. It still wasn't perfect, probably the perfect performance with the bat, but still things to work on," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Woakes as saying.
The England batting has looked good, with Joe Root being the most consistent batsman in the team. The right-hander has scored three back-to-back half-centuries in the series, and will be eager to play an important role in the fourth ODI as well. Other batsmen like Alex Hales, last match's hero when he scored 171, and Jos Buttler will be keen to attack the Pakistan bowlers once again.
The Pakistan bowlers have been below par in the series. They have not troubled the English batsmen in the series, and have only managed to take 12 wickets, which is disappointing for a team that comprises of Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah as their bowlers.
Not only have their bowlers failed to shine, the batsmen have not been able to score consistently in the series. Pakistan batsmen are getting starts, but are not able to convert them into meaningful scores, which has been their biggest problem. During the fourth ODI, Pakistan will need a superb all-round performance to get the better of England, who are sky high on confidence.
Pakistan, with their performance in the series so far has not helped their rankings as they languish on the ninth position. But they need to forget everything, and just concentrate on playing better cricket. Skipper Azhar Ali, who has also received severe crictism for his team's show in in the ODI format, needs to lift his team from the third ODI low in order to finish the series on a high.
Where to watch live
England vs Pakistan 4th ODI is scheduled for a 2 p.m BST (6:30 p.m IST, 6 p.m Pakistan time) start.
India - TV: Star Sports 2/HD. Live Streaming: Starsports.com
Pakistan – TV: PTV Sports. Live streaming: PTV Sports live
UK: TV: Sky Sports 2. Live Streaming: Sky Go
Australia: TV: Fox Sports 5. Live Streaming: Foxtel Play.
