England vs Pakistan – the ICC Champions Trophy semifinal battle between a team with a sparkling new identity and one that continues to struggle to shed its old one.
While England have moved on from their 2015 World Cup debacle, when they failed to get out of the group stages, Pakistan remain what they have been all these years – unpredictable, mercurial.
Pakistan went down without a fight to India in their opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy, before fighting back quite brilliantly against South Africa.
After that convincing win kept their hopes of making the semifinals alive, they were thrown into a winner-take-all match against Sri Lanka.
The bowlers, who were the heroes of the win over the Proteas, again set the game up for their batsmen by restricting Sri Lanka to just 236, but Pakistan being Pakistan made what should have been a comfortable chase into a nail-biting one.
Sarfraz Ahmed, thanks to some poor catching from Sri Lanka, eventually guided Pakistan home, but the team in green will know they need to bat a whole lot better if they are to beat this England team.
That brittle batting order of Pakistan continues to be a cause for worry, and if the willow-wielders don't step up against England, their tournament will end in the semifinal stage.
The problem, though, is even if the Pakistan batsmen come to the fore in this semifinal, it might still not be enough, such is the strength of England.
Their batting looks scary, with England packed with match-winning batsmen from No.1 o No.7. on top of that, their bowlers, after a bit of an iffy start against Bangladesh, have stepped up and delivered when it has mattered most.
That makes this England side a really difficult one to trip up.
The bowlers are the ones who have taken Pakistan to the semifinals, and if they are to get to that final at The Oval on Sunday, the bowlers are going to have to find a way to cut through this England batting lineup.
Mohammad Amir, Junaid Khan, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim and the rest must keep the pressure locked on the England batsmen and hope that make the difference.
As England showed against Australia, even when they lose quick wickets, they back their skills and continue playing attacking cricket. What Pakistan must hope is, that attacking cricket opens up chances and leads to England's downfall.
When and where to watch live
India: TV: Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1HD (in English, Hindi, Tamil). Live Streaming: Hotstar.
UK: TV: Sky Sports 2. Live Streaming: Sky Go and Watch Sky Sports.
Pakistan: TV: PTV and Star Sports.
Middle East: TV: OSN Sports Cricket. Live Streaming: OSN Play.
Singapore: TV: Star Cricket.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel.
South Africa: TV: SuperSport 2. Live Streaming: SuperSport Live Video.
USA: TV: Willow TV. Live Streaming: Willow TV Live Online.
New Zealand: TV: Sky Sport 1. Live Streaming: Sky Go NZ.
