Pakistan warn England’s flaky batting to expect a trial by spin

Pakistan on Monday warned England’s inconsistent batting line-up to expect a trial by spin when the teams clash in the T20 World Cup Super Eights.

Pakistan batsman Sahibzada Farhan told reporters that England struggled to 146-9 against Sri Lanka’s spinners on Sunday.

Farhan said that England can expect more of the same from Pakistan’s spinners when they meet on the same Pallekele ground in Kandy on Tuesday night.

Pakistan desperately need a win after their first match against New Zealand was washed out.

A defeat would put England, who skittled Sri Lanka for 95 to win by 51 runs, through to the semi-finals with a game to spare.

Pakistan would then need to beat Sri Lanka in their final Super Eights match and hope other results go their way to reach the last four.

“What we saw in the Sri Lanka-England game was that the ball was gripping and England struggled against spin,” said the in-form opener Farhan on Monday.

“Sri Lanka have one or two spinners but we have five in all so we will give England a tough time on a pitch that looks good and will grip,” said Farhan.

Pakistan’s spinners have taken 26 wickets in the four matches so far. Their seamers have dismissed only seven batsmen.

History will be against Pakistan as they have never beaten England in three previous Twenty20 World Cup clashes.

“We are confident and our morale is high,” said Farhan, who scored an unbeaten 100 against Namibia in Pakistan’s final group match.

“We are focused on this match to win and progress.”

Farhan, who tops the T20 World Cup run-scoring chart with 220, said he was ready for the threat of England’s express pace bowler Jofra Archer.

“Facing Archer will not be difficult because I have faced similar bowlers in Pakistan,” said Farhan.

“So if he has plans against me, I also have plans against him.”

Pakistan are likely to bring in spinner Abrar Ahmed in place of seaming all-rounder Faheem Ashraf.

England may name an unchanged side for the fifth match in succession with Liam Dawson, Will Jacks, Adil Rashid and Jacob Bethell providing their spin options.

Sri Lanka and New Zealand are the two other teams in Pakistan and England’s Super Eights group. They face each other in Colombo on Wednesday.

The top two teams will qualify for the semi-finals.

England are yet to catch fire at the T20 World Cup, but they won’t mind one bit if another “ugly” win secures Harry Brook’s side a semi-final berth with a game to spare. With Pakistan and Zimbabwe’s clash on Saturday being washed out, a win against Pakistan on Tuesday at the same stadium will be enough to see the 2010 and 2022 T20 World Cup champions into the last four.

“We know that we can play a lot better,” all-rounder Liam Dawson told reporters after the win, in comments only made public on Monday.

“But at the end of the day in tournament cricket, you just need to get the win, however ugly.”

England’s bowlers came to the rescue for the third time in the tournament, after also defending below-par totals against Nepal and Italy.

“The fight we’ve shown with the ball shows that this team is in a very good place,” said Dawson.

Pakistan possess a dangerous spin attack, featuring a unique weapon in Usman Tariq and his pronounced pause before he releases the ball.

But Dawson said England would fight fire with fire with their own potent slow-bowling arsenal.

England’s variety offers Brook endless options, said Dawson who bowls left-arm spin, as does Jacob Bethell.

“We’re all very different types of spinners. Jacksy gets very good over-spin, very good bounce.”

Agence France-Presse