ABOUT THE MATCH

The 1st Test match between England and Pakistan is scheduled to be held on 5th August 2020. The team England will be continuing to have a full busy summer as the team Pakistan will be the third squad touring England after the resumption of cricket post-COVID-19. After Ireland and West Indies played ODI matches and three-Test series respectively, now England will play against Pakistan featuring two formats, Tests as well as T20Is.

A month ago the Pakistan team reached England and they have gone through the necessary quarantine period as well as took all safety measures before starting their training and practice games. The Pakistan team is all set to play on the opposition of England in a 3-Test and 3-T20I series at home.

Teams & Players’ performance Analysis:

Pakistan

After reaching England, Testing, COVID-19 positive cases, and an extended quarantine period has made the tour a tough one. Now, they are all prepared to get on the battlefield and build on the victory they acquired since the year 2010 in England. However, their victories have seen in London, so can team Pakistan replicate that thing at Old Trafford, against a team who have won three Tests already.

Pakistan possible XI: 1. Shan Masood, 2. Abid Ali, 3. Azhar Ali (c), 4. Babar Azam, 5. Asad Shafiq, 6. Haris Sohail/Fawad Alam, 7. Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 8. Yasir Shah, 9. Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10. Naseem Shah, 11. Mohammad Abbas

England

The winning factor and home ground benefit the team England. After a bad Test performance against West Indies, the team England returned in a fantastic way and won the other two-Test series and ODI matches against Ireland. The expertise of Stuart Broad, class of Ben Stokes, and persistence of England openers helped England to roar back in the series. However, they are continuing their best form, they have to be alert against team Pakistan, which can produce spectacular cricket on their day.

England possible XI: 1. Rory Burns, 2. Dominic Sibley, 3. Zak Crawley, 4. Joe Root (c), 5. Ben Stokes, 6. Ollie Pope, 7. Jos Buttler (wk), 8. Chris Woakes, 9. Jofra Archer, 10. Stuart Broad, 11. James Anderson

Pitch Report:

In both Test matches against West Indies, Old Trafford gave full assistance to the pacers of both the teams. However, the batsmen who can show patience and determination can make a big score. It will be fun to see what decision the toss winning team will take.

Weather condition:

The weather prediction is quite fine for the game, except for the probability of having rain on the day 1st. The maximum temperature is expected to be nearly 22°C, whereas the minimum will be 16°C, with a 56% probability of rains during the day.

Match Preview:

Pakistan:

  • In the last three Test matches, Pakistan has managed to win with the last Test match ending in a throbbing inning and won by 44 runs in Rawalpindi against Bangladesh. In that match, Pakistan opted to bowl first and bundled out team Bangladesh for 233 runs. In response, Babar Azam continued his fantastic form and made 143 runs as Pakistan scored 445 runs. But in the second innings, team Bangladesh dismissed for 168 runs.
  • It is a surprising factor that, team Pakistan has a good record in England by winning two of their last three Test matches. If the pitches suit the spinners, then Pakistan could add fantastic value to it especially in case they win the toss.
  • Pakistan team has a very dangerous bowling line-up and Yasir Shah is one of the toughest spinning options.

England:

  • Recently England won their Test series against West Indies by 2-1 with the last Test ending with a victory by 269 runs. Before Bundling out team West Indies for mere 197 runs, England made 369 runs by batting first. In the second innings, England added 172 runs by making 226 runs.
  • Despite conditions supporting the spin bowling, England will likely to go with Dom Bess as their only spinner option. James Anderson and Stuart Broad are ready to get started. The tough decision of selection team of England to chossing two players among Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, and Mark Wood.

Head to head:

  • Overall Test Matches – 83
  • England won – 25
  • Pakistan won – 21
  • Draw – 37
  • Tied – 0

Team form in last 5 matches:

  • Pakistan –  W, W, L, W, L
  • England – L, L, W, L, W

Probable top performers:

  • Pakistan – Babar Azam, Yasir Shah
  • England– Joe Root, Ben Stokes

Broadcast Details:

  • Tv – Sony Ten Network
  • Live Streaming – Sony Liv App
  • Match Timings – 5th August 2020 at 03:30 PM IST

Probable winning team:

Pakistan team certainly has the capability to cause England team an issue. However, England has already managed to win previous matches. So according to stats and analysis, we can predict that team England holds the ace. They can be a first-up winner.