England have played some good cricket in the T20 series against Pakistan, which has helped the visitors already clinch the three-match series 2-0. When the two teams square off in the third and final T20 match of the series in Sharjah on Monday, Pakistan only have pride to play for.
England, who on the other hand have been brilliant, will be eager to clinch the series 3-0 and sign off the tour on a high note. Having lost the Test series, England have since turned the screws on Pakistan, who also lost the ODI series.
The first and the second T20 matches in Dubai have been fairly close, with England winning by 14 and 3 runs respectively. However, the Three Lions have looked a better side.
The English batsmen have been quite consistent with the bat in the T20 series. Players such as James Vince, who scored 41 and 38 runs, respectively, have been quite impressive. The England team, without skipper Eoin Morgan in the second T20, was captained by James Buttler.
With the prestigious T20 World Cup in India next year, England are trying different combinations and strategies to find their best possible team for the mega-competition. As England have already won the series, they might try out some new combinations in the third T20 as well.
Pakistan are also using this series to prepare for the world cup, but must be mighty disappointed with their performance. Make no mistake, Pakistan under the leadership of Shahid Afridi are still going to be a huge contender in India, with players such as Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanvir and Shoaib Malik.
However, their batsmen have failed to impress in the T20 series so far, being unable to convert their starts into meaningful scores. Pakistan put up a pathetic batting display in the first T20, where they were reduced to 7 down for just 75 runs, but came up with a decent batting effort in the second T20, which was still not enough.
Pakistani batsmen and bowlers need to pull up their socks in the third T20, else it could be a series whitewash, which they want to avoid.
Pakistan vs England 3rd T20
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Date – 30 November
Time – 8 pm local time (9:30 pm IST, 4 pm GMT, 9 pm PKT)
Venue – Sharjah Cricket Stadium
TV listings: PTV (Pakistan), Ten Cricket (India), Sky Sports (the UK) and Willow TV (the US)