Rain likely to stay away as England face Pakistan in second T20I

The first match of the series was abandoned due to rain and wet outfield

PHOTO: Reuters

England and Pakistan will face-off in the second of the three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series, on Sunday, at Old Trafford in Manchester.

The first match of the series, on Friday, was abandoned due to rain and wet outfield. Batting first, England initially struggled as they lost Jonny Bairstow in the first over, but fellow opener Tom Banton smacked five sixes in his innings as the home side reached 131-6 in 16.1 overs before the weather closed in.

Both teams will be looking for a win inorder to take an unassailable lead, ahead of the third and final T20I on Tuesday.

Pakistan can jump to third place, behind Australia and India, in the ICC T20 Rankings if they win the remaining two matches. On the other hand, losing the last two matches will push them down from fourth to fifth position. A drawn series will keep them in the fourth spot.

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It must be noted that England will slip to fourth position, from second, in case they lose the series.

The weather forecast for the second T20I looks improved and rain is likely to stay away, over the course of the match.

Despite putting on a good show in the first match, Banton was realistically optimistic about his chances in white-ball cricket.

"When the white-ball side is at full strength I'm probably not going to break into it. I am just going to keep trying to score runs and put other guys under pressure and we'll see how it goes from there. I don't want to look too far ahead as there is a lot of cricket to be played. It's one innings, I could go duck, duck the next two," said Banton.

Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Babar Azam was satisfied to see a nice blend of youth and experience in the side.

"There is Shoaib [Malik], there is [Mohammad] Hafeez. And then if you look at the bowling, there is Shaheen Shah and Wahab Riaz. There is Mohammad Amir and Haris Rauf. There is a good mix of seniors and juniors. So I'm hopeful that we can win the series," said Azam.