England vs Pakistan 2020: Mickey Arthur Predicts Pakistan As The Winner Of The 1st Test Match
Aug 8, 2020 at 5:25 PM
Former Pakistan Head Coach Mickey Arthur had predicted Pakistan to be the winner of the ongoing first Test match against England at Old Trafford, Manchester. Arthur’s head coach contract was not renewed by PCB after the Green Army had a drastic end during the 2019 World Cup campaign in England.
Meanwhile, in the opening Test match of the three-match series, Pakistan had set a target of 277-run for England after scoring 169 runs in their second innings. The opener Shan Massod scored 156 runs in the first innings, to help the visitors to get a mammoth lead.
However, Shan was out for a duck in the second innings. Similarly, Babar Azam who earned the praise of cricket pundits for his gritty half-century was out for five runs on day three.
Mickey Arthur backs Pakistan:
The captain Azhar Ali also could not do much and gave his wickets easily on both occasions.
England’s bowler had dominated on the third day which halted Pakistan to cross 200 runs mark in second innings. Chris Woakes picked two prized scalps while Stokes also dismissed two batsmen. Premier pacer Stuart Broad got two cheap wickets.
But, at Old Trafford pitch, 277 runs target is enough for Pakistan to get the lead in the three-match series. Mickey Arthur also backs Pakistan to win the Test match.
His remark came after a fan on Twitter asked him to predict the winner. He said that Pakistan would win the game by 30 runs.
Pakistan by about 30 runs! https://t.co/utcejWXWFM
— Mickey Arthur (@Mickeyarthurcr1) August 8, 2020
Mickey Arthur is now Sri Lanka’s head coach. He has led Pakistan to ICC Champions Trophy 2017 victory after defeating the Indian national cricket team in the grand-finale.
However, in the last year’s mega event, Sarfaraz Ahmed led Pakistan had failed to reach the semi-final of the event. Subsequently, he was heavily criticised for his job and PCB didn’t renew his contract.
Also, Sarfraz Ahmed was dropped from the team after Pakistan lost home series against Sri Lanka. He has toured with the Pakistan team in England but has been not included in the first Test.