“We set our bar very high, at the start of the Sri Lanka series we didn’t have a good performance so this is a much better place to start from”.
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Hampshire left-arm spinner Liam Dawson – at his home ground – could therefore come into the XI for his first ODI cap alongside Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid. Azhar was a member of the Pakistan team that secured an impressive 2-2 draw in a recent four-Test series against England and is now looking for his side to hit similar heights in the five-match ODI series starting in Southampton today.
The Surrey opener’s latest cameo in 50-over cricket, scoring 65 from 56 balls during England’s 44-run Duckworth-Lewis victory, took his ODI average this northern summer to 95 across six matches.
After a fluctuating, evenly contested Test series was drawn 2-2, this comfortable victory gives England a 10-8 lead in the “Super Series”, where points awarded for results across all three formats.
“I have been in that position before and it’s a nice feeling to be able to play with freedom in white-ball cricket”, said Morgan.
Azhar was twice dropped on 9, when Hales couldn’t hold on to a catch in the gully region before Jos Buttler dropped a hard left-handed catch down the legside. This news story is related to Latest/145159-England-beat-Pakistan-in-rain-hit-first-one-dayer/ – breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne.
Pakistan captain Azhar Ali hopes to take the nation’s Test form on to the one-day stage and is confident they can spring another surprise and improve their lowly one-day global ranking of ninth.
“Our one-day ranking is not great right now but we will take the opportunity and, the way the team is performing, hopefully we can convert it into ODIs”.
England have tours of Bangladesh, subject to security clearance, and India before Christmas, seven Tests providing a tough task.
All-rounder Ben Stokes and his Durham teammate Mark Wood are back from calf and ankle injuries respectively although the former will play as a batsman only for the first two games.
The result meant England went 10-8 up on points in the Super Series with four ODIs and one Twenty20 worldwide to play.
Pakistani skipper Azhar Ali said that Pakistan has a good potential in one-day cricket and the side has got belief.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence going into Saturday’s game”.
Even so, Pakistan’s prospects remained as bleak as the gathering storm clouds and when the players were forced off twice in the space of three balls they were well off the pace.
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England (possible): J Roy, A Hales, J Root, E Morgan (c), B Stokes, J Buttler (wkt), M Ali, C Woakes, A Rashid, L Plunkett, M Wood.
