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The Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham is ready to host the third and final One-Day International (ODI) of the ongoing three-match series between England and Pakistan on Tuesday (July 13).
The home team is ahead in the series with 2-0 after crushing the visitors in the first ODI by nine wickets, followed by a 52-run triumph in the second match. The Ben Stokes-led side will look to win another game to complete the clean sweep against Pakistan.
On the other hand, Babar Azam & Co. will look to register a consolation victory after losing the ODI series badly.
Pitch report:
The track at Edgbaston offers good support to fast bowlers. The side movement from the pitch puzzles the batsmen. 230 is the average score in 63 ODIs played at this venue.
Playing Combination:
England
Despite the absence of star players, England have already sealed the series, and they will now hope to whitewash the tourists. In order to record a clean sweep, it’s highly unlikely that Stokes would alter the winning combination.
Possible XI: Ben Stokes (c), Philip Salt, Dawid Malan, Zak Crawley, James Vince, John Simpson (wk), Lewis Gregory, Craig Overton, Brydon Carse, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson.
Pakistan
In both the matches that Pakistan lost, their batting has been the major disappointment. Despite the consistent failures, the top-order is likely to remain unchanged. In order to deal with the middle-order problem, Pakistan have an option like Sarfaraz Ahmed, and he could replace Sohaib Maqsood in the playing XI.
PAK XI: Babar Azam (c), Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sohaib Maqsood/Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Match prediction:
Case 1:
- England win the toss and bowl first
- Powerplay score: 40-50
- Pakistan total: 200-220
Case 2:
- Pakistan win the toss and bowl first
- Powerplay score: 50-60
- England total: 240-260
England to win the contest.
