How This Works
I briefly breakdown the batting and bowling attack of each squad and how they relate to each other before selecting who I think is going to win. Because cricket can be won by a number of wickets (if you’re chasing) or runs (if you’re defending), I’m simply going to select who I think is going to win outright, not in the manner, or by how many runs, they’re going to win by. Makes sense? (Quickly moves on before acknowledging any questions) Great! Let’s get started!
Bowling
England: Tom Curran, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Liam Dawson
Pakistan: Hasan Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Hafeez, Shadab Khan
ICC Ranking Average: (Measured by taking the top 5 bowlers in ICC’s player ratings. Those 5 rankings are then averaged out. The lower the number, the better.)
England:
- Chris Woakes: 9th
- Adil Rashid: 15th
- Mark Wood: 31st
- Liam Plunkett: 33rd
- Moen Ali: 41st
- Avg: 25th
Pakistan:
- Mohammad Amir: 27th
- Hasan Ali: 28th
- Shadab Khan: 29th
- Imad Wasim: 30th
- Shaheen Afridi: 55th
- Avg: 33rd
Breakdown: England hold the slight advantage in the average rankings. With each team having played one match already, we’ve already seen how the attacks played out. England bowled out a supposedly strong South African attack with Jofra Archer leading the way. Pakistan, meanwhile got walloped by an electric West Indies attack in their first match.
Advantage: ENGLAND
Batting
England: Eoin Morgan ©, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (WK), James Vince, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Liam Dawson
Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed © (WK), Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Imam ul Haq, Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Hafeez, Shadab Khan
ICC Ranking Average: (Measured by taking the top 5 batters in ICC’s player ratings. Those 5 rankings are then averaged out. The lower the number, the better.)
England:
- Joe Root: 7th
- Jos Buttler: 16th
- Eoin Morgan: 17th
- Jason Roy: 18th
- Jonny Bairstow: 19th
- Avg: 15th
Pakistan:
- Babar Azam: 8th
- Fakhar Zaman: 10th
- Imam-ul-Haq: 15th
- Mohammad Hafeez: 44th
- Sarfaraz Ahmed: 51st
- Avg: 25th
Breakdown: England played exactly as expected in match one. Going into this tournament it was obvious the bats would lead this squad, and that’s exactly what happened. They’re cruising right now, so much so that their average ranking of 15th seems ludicrous. The only question is: who will be the one to go off this time? Pakistan proved they can score runs in England during the warm up series, but got off to one of the worst starts of the tournament. How they respond against a stronger bowling side is key.
Advantage: ENGLAND. I mean, play the hot hand, right?
A final bold and likely dumb call: The match is in Nottingham. These teams played each other a few weeks ago and England won by chasing down a score of 340. My outrageous take for this match is THREE (3) centuries. Two for Pakistan and one for England.
The American Slogger 