Pakistan vs England ODI Preview & Tips - England to finally get up and running as Banton stars again

England were left floored in a stunning match in which their score of 429/4 proved insufficient in a two-wicket loss to Sri Lanka. 

An 87-run over England in their opening match saw Pakistan battle to 302/9 before bowling England out for 215. Against Sri Lanka, Pakistan once again passed the 300-run mark before restricting their opponents to 268 in a 37-run win. Victory in this one will see Pakistan move six points ahead of third-placed England with one game to come. Even at this stage, Pakistan look very likely to be in the final with a single win needed across their final two games. 

Batting first has tended to be the way to win matches across the series, with the team that sets the target winning two of the three matches. The only exception is England's stunning two-wicket loss when batting first and failing to defend 429/4 in a game that defied belief. 

While Pakistan have proved too good for the opposition in their first two, they will worry about the prospect of taking on an England side that smashed over 400 runs in their last game. If Pakistan can make early in-roads then they have every chance of winning this one, but they lack the sort of firepower that England boast with the bat meaning that chasing 350+ will be an issue. 

Bowling has proved the difference between the sides across the series, with England unable to restrict Pakistan to less than 300 in their match, while they failed to defend 429 against Sri Lanka. With England in desperate need of a win, I am backing them to hand Pakistan a first defeat in the tri-series to set up an intriguing handful of final group games. 

Harry Brook was in truly stunning form as he smashed 202 from 116 in an innings that saw him dispatch 21 boundaries and 10 maximums. However, he fell to the final ball of the innings, and if he had been able to hit a four or a six then it would have given Sri Lanka more to do. Winning the match eight wickets down with one delivery to spare saw Sri Lanka just about get home in one of the great ODI chases, but had they have been chasing 434 to win, things may have been different as the game went down to the wire. 

Tom Banton (50) went under the radar as Brook starred, but he continues to provide England with a good platform to score runs. His prominence at the top of the order has seen his squeeze out runs in tough conditions before smashing the ball to all corners. If he can get a start, then I back him to get a good score again. 

Control is crucial with the ball against Pakistan. Gus Atkinson went wicketless across his seven overs, Josh Tongue went for 79 runs despite taking three wickets and Sam Curran was smashed for 103 runs in his nine overs. While Tongue and Curran did take five wickets between them, they went for 182 runs between them in under 18 overs. 

Adil Rashid will likely be brought back into the side to provide more threat with the spinning ball, but finding a way to take consistent wickets to peg Pakistan back is crucial. If England can match their batting intent with wickets when in the field, then they should win this one.