Valkerie Baynes is a general editor at ESPNcricinfo
Unchanged England bowl in bid for series clean-sweep against unchanged Pakistan
Written by I Dig Sports
Published in
Cricket
Tuesday, 13 July 2021 05:11
Toss: England chose to bowl vs Pakistan
England won the toss and elected to bowl in the third and final match of their ODI series against Pakistan at Edgbaston.
On the eve of England's two-year anniversary as World Cup champions, a very different-looking home side are aiming to sweep this series 3-0 following emphatic wins in Cardiff and at Lord's.
With play set to begin in fine conditions with some cloud about but no rain forecast, the hosts named an unchanged side, having undergone wholesale changes in the lead-up to this series due to seven positive Covid-19 tests among the original squad and support staff.
Phil Salt was excellent at Lord's scoring 60 off 54 balls and putting on a 97-run stand with James Vince, who also scored a half-century, while Saqib Mahmood and Lewis Gregory have impressed with the ball during the first two matches.
Ben Stokes, England's acting captain, said after Tuesday's toss: "I've been very impressed by everyone, it's been a bizarre week but everyone's stood up."
Pakistan are also unchanged, with skipper Babar Azam saying: "We have lost the series but trying to win momentum back for the T20 series."
Three T20Is follow this ODI series, starting at Trent Bridge on July 16.
The 20,000 spectators expected to attend Tuesday's match in Birmingham have been urged to wear blue in support of The Bob Willis Fund, formed in memory of the late Bob Willis to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer research.
England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Zak Crawley, 4 James Vince, 5 Ben Stokes (capt), 6 John Simpson (wk), 7 Lewis Gregory, 8 Craig Overton, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Matt Parkinson
Pakistan: 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Sohaib Maqsood, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11 Haris Rauf