Pakistan vs England Preview & Prediction | 1st Test
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England head to Pakistan looking to extend the hosts’ misery in red ball cricket and repeat their three-match series sweep that we saw last time Ben Stokes’ side played here.
DATE/TIME: Sunday 6th October US PST – 10:00pm / Monday 7th October 2024 - UK – 6:00am / US EST – 1:00am
VENUE: Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan, Pakistan
WEATHER: All five days expected to be extremely hot with bright sunshine throughout and temperature in the mid-thirties.
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Sky Sports / US – Willow TV
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Sky Go / US – Willow TV
PAKISTAN FORM: TEN MATCHES WITHOUT A WIN AT HOME
Shan Masood is still yet to win a game as Pakistan Test captain and is under huge pressure heading into this series alongside the rest of his side. Babar Azam is also competing in his first match since resigning as white ball captain and whether that has a positive effect on his red ball cricket remains to be seen.
LAST FIVE: LLLLL
ENGLAND FORM: FIVE VICTORIES FROM SIX TESTS THIS PAST SUMMER
England enjoyed a successful home summer, winning five of their six Tests, sweeping West Indies before beating Sri Lanka 2-1. The victory against Sri Lanka came despite the absence of skipper Ben Stokes due to a hamstring injury and the all-rounder has failed to regain full fitness in time to play in this first Test.
LAST FIVE: LWWWW
PAKISTAN BETTING ANALYSIS
The rumour is that the pitch in Multan will be greener than the usual featherbed that you would expect in Pakistan. With that in mind, this could lead to Shaheen Shah Afridi coming into his own and causing England’s batters huge problems with his difference making left-arm pace. Shaheen is Pakistan’s one true ace with the ball and is well worth backing to pick up over 4.5 total match wickets.
ENGLAND BETTING ANALYSIS
It remains to be seen how England’s bowlers will adapt to sub-continental conditions and searing hot temperatures in Multan. But the batters are capable of racking up big runs and no one has proven better in the sub-continent than Joe Root. The Yorkshireman is 71 runs away from becoming England’s highest Test run-scorer of all time and the fifth highest Test run-scorer in history, overtaking the 12,472 runs accumulated by Sir Alastair Cook in 291 innings. Root will play his 267th and possibly his 268th innings over the course of this Test and should be backed to record over 80.5 match runs, making history in the process.
See our analysis on Joe Root and whether he can become the highest Test run-scorer of all time
PAKISTAN VS ENGLAND EXPERT PREDICTION
Pakistan are stuck in a vortex of negativity right now and it’s hard to see how they are going to pull themselves out of it. Head coach Jason Gillespie is a safe pair of hands, but a good start here by England will build pressure on the home nation and make it hard for Gillespie to rally his side. Captain Masood has not had the desired impact on this team and it would be no surprise if we saw a batting collapse like we did when Pakistan were beaten by Bangladesh.
England know what it takes to win here and even without Stokes will play attacking cricket with a view to winning this Test. Back them to get the 20 wickets they need and ultimately rack up enough runs to come out on top in Multan.
PAKISTAN VS ENGLAND TIP: ENGLAND TO WIN
