An enigmatic Pakistan is eyeing a semi-final berth against Sri Lanka on Monday (June 12) at Sophia Gardens, after making a stunning comeback against world’s top-notch team South Africa which saw after receiving backlash from the die-hard fans back home when they surrendered against formidable India on June 4, in their Group B opener of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
Brimming with the confidence, the Pakistan side looked a better unit against AB de Villiers’ South Africa while giving their best on-the-field, before spinning the web with the calculative use of slow bowlers which further saw Imad Wasim and Mohammad Hafeez claim first three wickets to dent the Proteas.
On the batting front, it was Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik, who showed the presence of mind – to take team home by 19 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method when rain abandoned the game and keep Pakistan in the hunt.
Overview:
Coming up against Sri Lanka, Pakistan seems to have a balanced bowling unit, which has the ability to defend runs after relying on their couple of experienced players.
Pakistan would be relying on Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan’s swing and pace against the inexperienced batting line-up of Sri Lanka which would test from the time-to-time after doing remarkably well while chasing the high-scoring target at The Oval against India.
Talking Points:
Pakistan has been lacking positive approach while chasing down the tricky totals, but the last game has witnessed a constructive intent particularly with the inclusion of debutant Fakhar Zaman.
The 27-year-old Mardan-born batsman Zaman played some quality strokes against the decent bowling which included a World No. 1 bowler Kagiso Rabada, who went wicketless after conceding 36 runs in seven overs.
Morne Morkel bowled brilliantly while claiming three crucial wickets in his seven overs after conceding 18 runs.
However, Babar Azam played Morner according to the merit – to see-off the breezy spell before punishing the bad balls.
On the other side, Pakistan would want their spinner to continue from where they had left against South Africa, before asking Hasan Ali to pick wickets during the crunch moment of the game.
The wily customer Hasan Ali was brilliant with the ball as he bagged three wickets in his eight overs after conceding 24 runs.
Recent Form:
Coming into the tournament Pakistan had an awful start which further saw them lose the match by 124 runs as they leaked 72 runs against India.
Moreover, learning from their mistakes quickly, Pakistan in its second game had things in control and made things tough for South Africa while bundling them out for 219 runs which witnessed only David Miller scoring unbeaten 75 off 104 balls to help the Proteas while crossing 200-mark.
Predicted XI
It doesn’t seem Pakistan would make any change against Sri Lanka in the crunch game as they would be relying on the winning combination which was fielded against South Africa.
While knowing the aggressive batsmen of Sri Lanka would go hard against Pakistan, the Men in Green bowlers are sweating it out in the nets, in a bid to contain the Islanders in the Cardiff which has something on an offer for the bowlers.
Sarfraz Ahmed would be aiming to see batsmen doing well against Sri Lanka which further saw the Angelo Mathews-led side losing out a promising batsman Kusal Perera owing to hamstring as he was replaced by Dhananjaya de Silva.
Pakistan can try bowling all-rounder Faheem Ashraf at the expense of rookie leg-spinner Shadab Khan, who bowled five overs against South Africa without too much of a success.
An addition could be made in a bid to strengthen to their batting line-up.
Here’s the Predicted XI of Pakistan:
Sarfraz Ahmed (skipper/wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali.