Pakistan vs England: England ready to complete whitewash
Published:England are hoping to complete a 4-0 whitewash in the one-day international series when facing Pakistan on Tuesday, and patriotic punters can claim a return on the narrow 4/5 favourites to win the match.
As the world’s number one Test side, England shocked and disappointed many in falling to a crushing 3-0 defeat to Pakistan in the Test series that occurred in Dubai, but have been impressive in racing to a 3-0 series lead in the 50-over form of the game.
They have exploited the weaknesses of the one-day Pakistan outfit to great effect, taking advantage of batsmen whose quality is less evident in ODI’s, whilst also capitalising on a lack of agility and aggression in the opposition’s field.
The spin bowling of the likes of Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman that was so essential to the Pakistan Test success has been ineffectual in the one-day game, as English talent such as Steven Finn has performed ruthlessly with the ball, achieving tremendous figures of 11 wickets for just 92 runs during the series.
Superb batting performances have also been a feature of the English ODI campaign in Dubai, with Kevin Pietersen’s first one-day century in over three years an apt follow-up to Alastair Cook’s tons in each of the previous two matches.
Having now adapted to the conditions in the United Arab Emirates, which seemed as big a challenge as any during Test match situations, it is difficult to looks past 4/5 England beating their 1/1 challengers, and there are a number of potential man-of-the-match candidates who can be backed, with the English players looking the best value.
Steven Finn will be determined to continue his good run of form as he looks for a Test recall, and he is a big 14/1 to be named man-of-the-match, whilst batsmen Alastair Cook at 9/1, and Kevin Piertersen at 10/1, could receive the accolade should they continue the impressive scoring that has greatly aided England’s series so far.
