England vs Pakistan 2020: Old Trafford Manchester pitch report and weather conditions
Two of the world's best T20I teams, England and Pakistan, are set to battle each other in a 3-match series that promises to be a battle of equals. The Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester will host the entire series, and Pakistan will be fancying their chances of winning the series, owing to their excellent record in Manchester.
The Men in Green had crushed England in a one-off T20I played between the two sides in 2016. Wahab Riaz rocked the English batting order with his terrific spell of 3/18, while Eoin Morgan's men struggled to tackle the left-arm spin of Imad Wasim and Hasan Ali's pace bowling.
Chasing a modest target of 136 runs, Pakistan's openers Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif added 107 runs for the first wicket in 11.1 overs. Babar Azam completed the remaining formalities as Pakistan won by nine wickets in Manchester.
The home team would look to forget their performance in the last two T20Is played here because, after Pakistan, even the Indian cricket team thrashed England on this ground in 2018.
With Manchester being the host for all T20I games, here's a look at the pitch that the ground offers apart from the weather predictions for the next few days.
Old Trafford Manchester pitch report
Old Trafford in Manchester has hosted 8 T20I games, three of them ended without a clear winner. The home team has won three fixtures, while the Englishmen have ended up on the losing side during the last two outings.
The pitch has equally assisted the quick bowlers and the batsmen, but none of the teams have managed to post a 200+ total on the board here. Looking at the last two results at this venue, the captain winning the toss would prefer batting second.
Kuldeep Yadav picked up a five-wicket haul in the previous game played in Manchester, which shows that the wicket has something for the spin bowlers as well. Anything above 160 should be a par score in this T20I series.
Old Trafford Manchester weather conditions
The last two Test matches between England and Pakistan were affected due to rain, and the fans may see similar scenes during the first T20I. There are predictions for light rainfall on the evening of 28th August, which means there could be a delay.
However, Manchester's skies are expected to stay clear on 30th August and 1st September, meaning the fans will get at least two full matches in the T20I series between England and Pakistan.