Pakistan scheduled the series in England before the World Cup and reached England a month before the World Cup 2019, to study and get used to the conditions. However, they lost the ODI series against England. In three out of the four matches, the target for the chasing side was above 350.
England was successful in chasing the targets. But, Pakistan struggled to chase, because the top order and middle order failed to convert positive start that they have made to their inning.
The top order, on a lot of occasions, gives a solid start. However, the issue is with the last 10 overs where Pakistan fail to add crucial runs that have a massive impact on the final score. It looks like that the same issue is unresolved yet as it has continued in the World Cup as well.
In the third ODI against England, Pakistan made 358/9, which England chased it easily with five overs left. In that match, Pakistan lost five wickets in the last powerplay. Further, in the fourth ODI, batting first, Pakistan made 340/7 and yet lost four wickets in the last 10 overs.
However, against England in their World Cup clash, Pakistan managed to restrict England and clinched a 14-run victory. Yet, what was important to note is that even though Pakistan made 348/8, they lost five wickets between overs 41-50.
The most important point to be noted is the fact that Pakistan loses too many wickets in the final 10 overs that results in fewer runs scored in those crucial death overs. The other issue is their middle order batsmen get out at a crucial time without scoring many runs, which restricts them to put more runs on the board.
Batsmen like Asif Ali and Shoaib Malik have failed to impress with their batting in this tournament. Pakistan has lost two matches from their four games in this tournament thus far. The biggest game for Pakistan considered inn this World Cup was the once against India. Pakistan winning the toss Made India bat first. Some missed opportunities in the field and some brilliant batting by India help them to set a target of 337. Pakistan got a brilliant start even though losing Imam-ul-Haq early for 7 yet they were going good with a 104 runs stand between Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam, but once again India got a wicket and that continued forever. With no other partnership to rescue Pakistan, their innings sank completely.
This proves that once again the unpredictability of Pakistan, they require to be more predictable. And this can be achieved by working out off- the field much more than on-the-field.
