CARDIFF (Pakistan Point News / Online - 05th May, 2019) Pakistan take on England in a one-off T20 match at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff today.England come into this game after a disappointing display against Ireland in a one-off one-dayer in Malahide on Friday which they won by four wickets.Chasing 199 to win, England slipped to 101 for six as Ireland's 19-year-old debutant bowler Josh Little made the most of seaming conditions to claim 4-45.
Pakistan on the other hand, have so far been impressive in all three of their matches against county sides, beating Kent by 100 runs, Northamptonshire by eight wickets and Leicestershire by 58 runs.The Sarfaraz-led XI will be relying on their batting line-up which has been in excellent form so far. Imad Wasim, Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam have all made hundreds in the country matches and will be looking to continue their form.Pakistan will, however, be without the services of senior batsman Shoaib Malik who was granted a 10-day leave.
Mohammad Amir will also be in the spotlight after having been left out of the preliminary World Cup squad. In his only game on tour so far, he picked up one wicket.England on the other hand, have called up uncapped Sussex batsman Phil Salt to replace Dawid Malan for Sunday's game after Malan suffered a groin injury while batting against Ireland.However, England will not be fielding their strongest line-up as the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes will not feature here after their IPL stints.The focus will be on Barbados-born fast bowler Jofra Archer who made an impressive debut against Ireland.
