Having predicted a whitewash for the hosts before the series began, the Analyst says it is inconceivable that Pakistan could salvage any pride in the final match on Sunday
Despite suffering a slight puncture on Thursday night at Headingley, England’s one-day juggernaut rolls on, crushing everything in its path.
Since Liam Plunkett’s last-ball six to tie the ODI against Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge in mid-June, England have won every completed match, never lost more than seven wickets and scored at an average run rate of 6.51.
For comparison, their average one-day run rate in the decade before this was 4.90, while even Australia’s this year is a mere 5.63.
England have made such giant strides – often fielding 11 men with a first-class hundred, all of whom have cleared the ropes in a one-day international – that visiting teams are starting to visibly wilt.
Pakistan have tried a number of different combinations of bowlers in this series, and are still no nearer to finding a way to suppress England’s awesome batting power.
The towering Mohammed Irfan struck a couple of bruising blows when he helped reduce them to 72-4 at Headingley, but neither he nor they could finish England off.
Irfan himself limped off injured after his exertions and couldn’t complete his spell as England won at a canter with two overs to spare.
The final match of the series is at Cardiff on Sunday.
It is inconceivable that Pakistan can win it unless their one X-factor player – opener Sharjeel Khan, the only visiting batsman with a strike rate of more than a run a ball at 112.66 – can do extended damage. At the moment his impact is limited to brief cameos.
Apart from him and the enterprising Imad Wasim, Pakistan seem to be playing one-day cricket from a previous decade.
Their batting is too orthodox, their bowling lacks real hostility – though Irfan offered some before he broke down – and their fielding is abysmal.
England have all bases covered.
There are eight batsmen who can play a match-winning innings – though Ben Stokes, prone to getting out before the job is complete and with a best one-day score of 70, still has to learn to be more ruthless – and a bottom three who can all clump it out of the ground.
The faster bowlers have a great mix of pace, aggression and versatility and are working on more slower balls. The spinners, meanwhile, really know their games and consistently pick up wickets with subtle variations.
The fielding is good too, with Stokes and Plunkett supreme, though that is still a work in progress.
It is a privilege to watch this team play – and a great relief not to have to bowl to them – and victory on Sunday will deservedly give them an unbeaten one-day summer.
Sterner challenges await, in India after Christmas especially, but on the motorway pitches provided in this series, their turbo-charged engine looks unstoppable.
