England vs Pakistan 1st ODI: Preview, likely XIs, predictions

Three weeks ahead of the World Cup, England will host Pakistan for the first of 5 ODIs. England have been bothered by Ireland in an ODI at Malahide last week, but that was with a second-string side, without almost the entire IPL contingency.

However, they are now back to the comfort of The Oval, where the ball will do less, thus allowing their power hitters to give it their all. Two days ago they beat Pakistan easily in the only T20I of the tour.

Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, and Ben Stokes will all be back to join Jason Roy, Joe Root, and Eoin Morgan. However, all eyes will – as in the last two matches – will be on Jofra Archer: will he able to impress the selectors enough to earn a World Cup berth?

Pakistan arrived in England after their second-string side were thrashed 0-5 by Australia in the UAE. However, they beat Northamptonshire (by 8 wickets, with 54 balls to spare) and Kent (by 100 runs) quite comfortably in their two 50-over matches on the tour.

Pakistan will also miss Shadab Khan, who has been ruled out of the series with hepatitis. They have summoned Yasir Shah as replacement. Shoaib Malik has also opted out.

Head to head

England have beaten Pakistan 49 times and lost 31 times. On English soil those numbers read 26 and 15.

If one ignores England’s defeat in the 2017 Champions Trophy semi-final, England have won the last four series 4-1, 3-1, 4-0, and 3-2. In 2016 they had hammered Pakistan at Trent Bridge to pile up 444/3, then a world record.

Key players

Moeen Ali (England): Till his early exodus, Moeen had been one of the stars of the IPL with his quick cameos at anywhere down the order and ability to pick up wickets. England will want his form – with both bat and ball – to spill into the ODIs.

Hasan Ali (Pakistan): Player of the Series in the 2017 Champions Trophy, Hasan is back to where his wonderful ascent had begun. His 77 wickets in 44 matches have come at only 24.18 apiece. Let alone this series, Hasan may emerge as one of the stars of the World Cup.

Likely XIs

England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid.

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Asif Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed (c & wk), Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Amir, Yasir Shah, Hasan Ali.

Prediction

England, the best side in the world, to prevail, more so because they play at home.