The 2nd Last League Match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 will be played on 11th November 2023. This will be Match 44 of the event which will be played between Pakistan and England at Eden Gardens Kolkata. Following is the Pakistan vs England Match Preview of Game 44 of the World Cup.
Pakistan vs England Today Match Preview
England are already out of the race for the semi-final of this World Cup. They have already had a terrible reign in this World Cup with just 2 wins in 8 games. Still, they have a lot to play for as their Champions Trophy 2025 qualification is at stake.
Pakistan is not mathematically out of the semi-final race, but they are realistically out of the race. Pakistan needs a 288-run win to qualify for the semis which looks impossible. Moreover, there are some even worse scenarios for Pakistan if they want to play the semi-final so realistically, it is all over for them.
Kolkata has a slightly slow surface and not a lot of runs are scored here. Both sides have a decent spin attack and it will be interesting to see how they perform on this slightly supportive track. Both teams have got good moral boosters before coming to this game. Pakistan scored 200 in 25 overs to win a rain-hit contest against South Africa while England belted the Netherlands and won the game by 160 runs.
Both teams will have nothing to lose in this game and both sides will go hard at each other. Both teams have had their ups and downs in the event, but both of them will try to end the event on a winning note.
Team Overview
Pakistan Expected Playing 11
Pakistan is likely to make one change. They will leave out Haris Rauf for Shadab Khan who is fit now.
1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam (C), 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Agha Salman, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Mohammad Wasim Jnr, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi
England Expected Playing 11
England is likely to stick with the same XI.
1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jos Buttler (C/wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Gus Atkinson, 11 Adil Rashid
Pakistan vs England Head-to-Head Record
Both sides have met 10 times in the World Cup previously. Pakistan has won 5 of these 10 encounters, while England has won 4. One game ended without a result. Overall, a total of 91 ODIs have been played between Pakistan and England till date with Pakistan managing to win only 32 while England has dominated this rivalry with 56 wins and 3 games ended without result.
Players to Watch Out For
Fakhar Zaman is someone who is being talked about every time Pakistan Plays a game now. Fakhar won back-to-back MOTM awards in his last 2 appearances. With the kind of scenario that Pakistan is in in order to play the semi-final, only Fakhar Zaman can make something happen for Pakistan. If he gets going, then 400 will be gettable for Pakistan.
With the ball, there is not much hope left for Pakistan. Their bowling attack is not in a great rhythm. Their only positive is M Wasim Jnr, who has shown some consistency with the ball.
For England, Dawid Malan and Ben Stokes remain key with the bat. Both batted brilliantly against the Dutch and provided England a much-needed win in order to keep their CT 25 qualification hopes alive.
Chris Woakes is another consistent performer for England with both bat and ball. Woakes scored a fifty against the Netherlands and he has been good throughout the event with the ball.
England vs Pakistan Toss Prediction
The Toss is likely to go Pakistan’s way and they will opt to bat first.
Pakistan vs England Match Prediction
Both sides are equally favorite to win this game.
