 The third Test match between England and Pakistan will be played at the
Oval. England have already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series and will
look to make a clean sweep of the series. Pakistan, on the other hand,
will look to ensure that they do not go into the fourth and the final game with
the series already lost, and for that to happen, nothing short of a win will do
for the Pakistanis.
Click for Live Score Card of England Vs PakistanEngland have had a couple of good Test matches, which they won by more than
350 runs and nine wickets respectively. In fact, in the second Test match at
Birmingham, the English side could have won by an innings, but their bowling
looked a little jaded as the Pakistani tail made mockery of the bowling.
The point that the English management would have noticed is that in the absence
of any clouds or overcast conditions, the English bowling becomes rather weak.
And while that is okay from the point of view of this series, it may just be
a concern with the Ashes coming up.
The English batsmen have had a decent time in the series so far, and if the
conditions at Oval do not change drastically, they would continue to do well.
However, the thing to be noticed here is that the Oval track does end up assisting
the spin bowlers in the end, and hence the likes of Saeed Ajmal and Graeme
Swann will be ones to watch out for.
From the point of view of the Pakistani batsmen, they have had a lot of problem.
The side has been found wanting against the quality seam bowling, and that will
need to change. The inclusion of Mohammad Yousuf in the playing eleven
will make a lot of difference to the way the Pakistani side bats and that should
make the side feel better. Umar Amin may sit out of the game, but that does
not mean that Shoaib Malik or Umar Akmal can relax themselves. The pair has
been out of touch for some time now, and that has already resulted in Malik
losing his central contract.
The bowling will continue to be the talking point for Pakistan but they will
now need to be careful how they use the pace attack. The side has already lost
Umar Gul and by over-bowling Mohammad Asif or Aamer, they will not want
to lose the pair. Ajmal will be the crucial cog in the wheel and one gets the
sense that at Oval, the game may not be as one-sided as one thinks.
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