England will face up to Pakistan in the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy on Wednesday. England were once again dominant and ruthless as they pummeled old rivals and reigning Champions Trophy holders Australia, on Friday. Ben Stokes fired a tremendous unbeaten 102 in the game to help England to their total, with captain Eoin Morgan chipping in with 87. So once again England’s batting line-up looks all-conquering.
Will they be able to carry their form through to the semi-final and beyond? England’s heroes with the ball in hand were Mark Wood and Adil Rashid, and that will be a massive boost in their confidence. England just look confident and comfortable in all aspects of their game and despite consistent failings with opener Jason Roy, they are sticking with the same line up and it was Roy who produced a staggering brilliant catch to start Australia’s batting collapse.
England will be the fresher of the two sides when they meet Pakistan on Wednesday. Pakistan found themselves in a duel with Sri Lanka on Monday to claim the final semi-final spot on Monday and they came through a thrilling 3-wicket victory in Cardiff. Pakistan looked like their usual unpredictable selves as they lost their opening match against old rivals India by 124 runs (D/L). But then something very strange happened to them in their next match.
England v Pakistan Champions Trophy Odds
England 4/11, Pakistan 11/5
They looked like world beaters as they came through with a win over South Africa in their group pool stage match, arguably the best game still of the tournament so far. They were brilliant with the ball in hand and they got through their second tie as well through the D/L after rain ruined the play for the day. They then made a successful run chase of Sri Lanka’s measly 236 total in their final match, but it wasn’t easy for them as they got across the finish line with seven wickets down.
So England will be back in Cardiff for the semi-final on Wednesday and they will await the winner of Thursday’s second semi-final between Bangladesh and India. England and Pakistan met last year in a five-match ODI series which England took 4-1. The loss in that series did come in the final match though, which was in Cardiff, with England going down by four wickets in early September. But England have won seven of their last eight ODI internationals against Pakistan now so are well up in the current form.
Frankly, the margins of victory that England have produced against Pakistran recently have been pretty substantial as well. England are just boasting so much power in their batting line up, even if the top order fails like it did against Australia to some degree early on, there is enough depth to pull them out of the weeds. Joe Root is 5/2 at Boylesports in the top England batsman market (and is fourth top scorer in the tournament so far), with Eoin Morgan at 9/2 and Ben Stokes at 11/2. Pakistan’s top option is Babar Azam at 10/3. Liam Plunkett has to be big value at 3/1 to be England’s Top Bowler.
Prediction: Pakistan pulled out a bowling masterclass in their duel with South Africa at a crucial time and England will have to be wary of Hasan Ali. However, there are inconsistencies there with Pakistan still and it is hard to find any kind of flaw in England’s approach to batting, bowling or fielding at the moment. The hosts are value to progress.
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