Third ODI: Pakistan play for pride as England eye series sweep

Pakistan will take on England in the third One-day International (ODI) of the ongoing series, at Edgbaston on Tuesday, with the home side looking to complete a cleans sweep.

The Men in Green were outplayed in the first two matches of the series by a new-look England side, which doesn’t have the services of its regular members due to a Covid-19 outbreak before the tour opener, which registered nine-wicket and 52-run victories, respectively.

England captain Ben Stokes is not keen on letting Pakistan off the hook in the final game of the ODI series and has vowed to approach the match with the same mindset.

“We have won the series already, but there’s nothing better than continuing the winning streak. We will take the same mindset into the next game, and if anything we will come harder,” said Stokes.

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Meanwhile, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is focused on bagging the valuable points, considering the ICC World Cup Super League, by putting up a good show in the final match.  

“We didn’t start well with the bat, lost back to back wickets, and couldn’t put up partnerships. We hope we can fix this in the next match. We see the next match as a good opportunity because points are still at stake,” said Babar.

Squads

England: Ben Stokes (c), Jake Ball, Danny Briggs, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Lewis Gregory, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Dan Lawrence, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Matt Parkinson, David Payne, Phil Salt, John Simpson (wk) and James Vince.  

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imamul Haq, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Usman Qadir.