The third and final test match between England and Pakistan gets underway at Southampton on Friday and after rain poor weather put paid to any chance of a result in the second contest, England remain 1-0 up in the series.
The second test was also staged at Southampton but we saw only 134 overs of cricket, and some of that came on the final day when any chance of a result was long since gone. For the record Pakistan made 236 in the first innings with Rizwan (72) and Abid Alli (60) the top scorers. Broad took 4 wickets and Anderson claimed 3. It took an age for England's reply to get underway and it finished tamely on 110/4 with Zak Crawley making 53 of those runs.
Let's rather recap on the first test which took place in Manchester where England came back from a precarious position to claim a 3 wicket victory.
Batting first Pakistan posted 326 with opener Massod making 156, Babar Azam (69) and Shadab Khan (45) were the support and Broad and Archer both took 3 wickets.
In reply England managed just 219 with Ollie Pope (62) the only batsman to get past 50 and Yasir Shah took 4 wickets.
At that stage Pakistan were in control but their second innings fell apart, all out for 169 with Broad taking another 3 wickets.
England still had plenty to do chasing 277 for victory and at 117/5 they were in deep trouble. Joss Buttler (75) and Chris Woakes (84 not out) had other ideas and despite another 4 wicket haul for Shah, England got up with 3 wickets still in tact. Woakes was named Man of the Match.
This was how the teams lined up at Southampton
England: Joe Root (captain), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Chris Woakes
Pakistan: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali (c), Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah
Note, Ben Stokes will also miss this test for family reasons.
Recent Head to Head
Prior to this series the teams met in England in 2018 and the 2 match series was shared at 1-1 with Pakistan winning the first contest at Lords (9 wickets) and England squared things up at Leeds (innings and 55 runs).
In 2016 Pakistan's tour of England saw a 4 match series drawn at 2-2 with the visitors winning the first and fourth contests.
The Rose Bowl, Southampton
This venue was also used for the recent test between England and West Indies which opened the series and West Indies sprang a surprise with a 4 wicket win. England posted scores of 204 and 313 and West Indies made 318 and 200/6.
The Betting:
3rd Test Match Winner
England 17/20
Draw 28/10
Pakistan 3/1
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change
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The Verdict:
The second test is hardly worth a mention but I will stick with the same picks for this final contest.
I'll keep an eye on the weather and if it looks good on matchday I'll side with a home win and after signs of a return to form for Joe Root at Manchester I will go with the England skipper to score a 50 in England's first innings.
Bets: England to win at 17/20 (if the forecast looks ok nearer matchday)
Batsman to score a 50 in the 1st innings, Joe Root? Yes at 11/8
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Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change
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