England vs Pakistan 2nd ODI Prediction: Who will win today's match?
England meet Pakistan in the second ODI of their three-match series at Lord's on Saturday.
Despite going in with five debutants owing to the COVID-19 pandemic hitting their camp, England managed to thrash Pakistan by nine wickets in the first ODI in Cardiff. The visitors played as if they were the more inexperienced team and not England.
Sent into bat after losing the toss in Cardiff, Pakistan put up a shambolic performance to be cleaned up for 141 in 35.2 overs. Opener Imam-ul-Haq was back in the hut off the first ball of the innings, and that pretty much set the tone for the Pakistan innings.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam lasted two balls, while Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel fell for 13 and 5, respectively. Before Pakistan knew, they were 26 for 4. Fakhar Zaman (47) and Shadab Khan (30) occupied the crease for a while, but neither could go on to play substantial knocks as Pakistan surrendered meekly.
Pacer Saqib Mahmood stood out for England with figures of 4 for 42. With the ball doing enough, he troubled the Pakistan batsmen. His twin strikes in the first over, dismissing Haq and Azam, put the visitors on the back foot, and they could never recover from that.
Craig Overton (2/23) and Matthew Parkinson (2/28) also impressed as England never let Pakistan off the hook. After losing Philip Salt (7), Dawid Malan (68 not out) and Zak Crawley (58 not out) took England to a dominating win. Unlike the proceedings off the field, it was the perfect game for England on the pitch.
England will fancy their chances of a series win at Lord's
Ben Stokes-led England would be buoyed by the sparkling show they put up with both bat and ball in the first ODI in Cardiff.
Considering that they had put up an XI for the game at the 11th hour owing to the COVID-19 crisis, it was a commendable effort. The hosts would have been under pressure for sure, but they did not show any nerves out in the middle.
England should be high on confidence going into the second ODI at Lordโs on Saturday. Speaking after the victory in the opening match, England captain Stokes described his teamโs effort as a clinical one, saying:
โAny game where you get the opposition out so early, you're always ahead of the game. You're always striving for that massive team performance. I just told the boys to do what they've been doing all summer for their counties. Don't change anything.โ
Pakistan will have to dig deep to make a comeback in the series. They had the upper hand going into the ODI series, considering the misfortune that struck the England camp. However, they could not take advantage of the situation.
The visitors' batting was abysmal, and although their bowlers did not have many runs to play with, they allowed England to dominate without seemingly putting up much of a fight.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan summed up Pakistanโs effort aptly when he tweeted:
โThey were PATHETIC .. Its the only way to describe a performance like that.โ
Prediction: England to win the second ODI and clinch the series against Pakistan.