Pakistan captain Azhar Ali won the toss and opted to bat first against England in the second ODI of the five-match series at Lord’s on Saturday.
The team management made three changes in the playing eleven which was played in the opening match of the series, where veteran Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Gul and young all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz replaced by opener Sami Aslam, Hasan Ali and Yasir Shah.
In the first match of the series, the hosts defeated the visitors by 44 runs on D/L method in a rain effected match on August 24 at Southampton.
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Visiting team captain Azhar Ali opted to bat first after winning the toss, and the Men in Green only managed to score 260 for six in their allotted 50 overs, where captain finished with the top score of 82.
In reply, Eoin Morgan’s men were 194 four three in the 35th over when the rain interrupted the match for the third time, which eventually made umpires to call off the game.
Following poor performance from the team in all three departments in the opening match of the series, coach Mickey Arthur warned the players that no one’s place is safe in the team, and they will have to step up their game or face axe, and also hinted that there can be a few changes for the second ODI.
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It will be interesting to see how the team will react to such a stern warning from the new coach, and will such comments be enough for Azhar Ali’s men to stop the advances of the home team, who are gearing up for another strong performance which can take them 2-0 up in the series.
England Team
JJ Roy, AD Hales, JE Root, EJG Morgan (captain), BA Stokes, JC Buttler†, MM Ali, CR Woakes, AU Rashid, LE Plunkett, MA Wood
Pakistan Team
Sami Aslam, Sharjeel Khan, Azhar Ali (captain), Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim, Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir
Over 23: PAK 116-4
Five runs off Adil’s seventh over.
Adil Rasheed to continue.
Over 22: PAK 111-4
Nine runs off Ali’s first over, good one for Pakistan.
Moeen Ali to start his first over of the day.
Over 21: PAK 102-4
Nine runs off Rasheed’s sixth over.
It’s 50-up for Sarfraz with a single. Fantastic innings under pressure.
Adil Rasheed to continue for his sixth over.
Over 20: PAK 93-4
Three off Plunkett’s fifth over.
Plunkett to continue.
Over 19: PAK 90-4
Six runs off Rasheed’s fifth over.
Adeel Rasheed to continue.
Over 18: PAK 84-4
Five off Plunkett’s fourth over.
Plunkett to continue.
Over 17: PAK 79-4
Five off Rasheed’s fourth over.
Adil Rasheed to continue.
Over 16: PAK 74-4
Five off Plunkett’s third over.
Plunkett to continue.
Over 15: PAK 69-4
Just three off Rasheed’s over.
Rasheed to continue.
Over 14: PAK 66-4
Just two runs and a wicket off the over.
BOWLED! It’s a big one as Babar Azam departs after scoring 30.
Plunkett to continue.
Over 13: PAK 64-3
Six off Rasheed’s second over.
Rasheed to continue.
Over 12: PAK 58-3
Seven off Plunkett’s first over.
Liam Plunkett to start his first over of the day.
Over 11: PAK 51-3
Five off Rasheed’s first over.
Surprise surprise! It’s Adil Rasheed who comes on to bowl in place of Mark Wood.
Over 10: PAK 46-3
Eight runs off Woakes fifth over. Quite brilliant to see onslaught from Babar Azam and Sarfraz.
Woakes to continue.
Over 9: PAK 38-3
10-runs of Wood’s fifth over, a real good one for Pakistan.
Wood to bowl his fifth over.
Over 8: PAK 28-3
Six runs off Woakes’ over.
Woakes to bowl his fourth over.
Over 7: PAK 22-3
10 runs off the over, a good one for Pakistan.
FOUR! Four welcome byes for Pakistan.
Wood to continue.
Over 6: PAK 12-3
Another maiden from Woakes.
Woakes to continue.
Over 5: PAK 12-3
Wood to continue.
Over 4: PAK 3-3
Wicket and a run off the over.
OUT! Captain Azhar departs as well without scoring. Hard to see any team coming back from this situation. Fantastic bowling from Woakes again.
Woakes to continue.
Over 3: PAK 2-2
Another wicket-maiden, this time from Wood.
OUT! And Pakistan is in deep trouble with Sharjeel going back to the pavillion without scoring.
Wood to continue.
Over 2: PAK 2-1
A wicket maiden for Woakes.
OUT! Extremely controversial decision. Was he out? Was he not out? Our guess is as good as yours. Sami must consider himself extremely unlucky.
Chris Woakes to start his first over of the day.
Over 1: PAK 2-0
So just two runs off Wood’s first over.
As expected, its Sami Aslam and Sharjeel Khan to open for Pakistan.
Mark Wood to start for England.
And before we begin, here a tweet from Junaid Khan, who is wishing luck to his teammates.
The English team is unchanged but we have three changes in the Pakistan lineup, where veteran Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Gul and young all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz replaced by opener Sami Aslam, Hasan Ali and Yasir Shah respectively.
The update from the center is that Azhar Ali won the toss for the second consecutive time in the series, and once again opted to bat first.
Hey every one, we are a bit late and that’s understandable considering the bad weather in Karachi, but cheers as we are here!
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