World Cup 2019, Match 6, Eng vs Pak: Today's Predicted Playing 11 and Key Players for England

The 2019 Cricket World Cup commenced a few days ago on May 30th. But, the majority of matches so far have been one-sided with England, West Indies, New Zealand, and Australia romping home to convincing wins.

England started off this sequence on the opening day against South Africa as the hosts found the latter's batting line up too brittle. It was a brilliant all-round performance from England as they recovered from difficult positions especially with the bat.

Roy-Root and Morgan-Stokes stitched brilliant partnerships in order to post a total of 311. Later on, England's pacers used a brilliant tactic of peppering South Africa with short-deliveries and that brought immense rewards in return.

Considering that, England won't think twice in order to apply the same old tactic against a familiar unit in the form of Pakistan. Not only have England played Pakistan a lot in the past month but Pakistan were also bounced out easily by the West Indian quick bowlers in their first match. Andre Russell and Oshane Thomas pummelled Pakistan into submission as their accurate bouncers were too much to handle for them.

This augurs well for England as one cannot be a hundred percent sure that Pakistan would have corrected such a weakness against short-pitch bowling in a quick period of time. Pakistan might also have a huge mental block coming into the game considering their past results against England. This would mean that England are more than favorites for this match.

The likes of Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, and Jofra Archer would be expected to put in starring performances as usual. Given that England are coming off a huge win, they aren't expected to make any changes. This is how England are expected to line-up against Pakistan.

Bairstow walking back after a rare failure

Jonny Bairstow (Key Player): Bairstow had a rare failure against South Africa as he bagged a duck. South African skipper Faf Du Plessis bowled Imran Tahir in the very first over and that gamble paid off for them. But Bairstow is too classy a player to notch up two consecutive failures.

Performance against Pakistan in 5-match ODI series:

Matches- 4, Runs- 211, Average- 70.33

Jason Roy will open the inning along with Jonny Bairstow. Jason Roy carried on his stupendous form as he notched up a well-compiled half-century against South Africa.

Joe Root similarly scored a fifty and threw away his wicket immediately. Both Roy and Root will look to correct that against Pakistan and bat deep into the inning.

Performances against Pakistan in 5-match ODI series-

Roy- Matches- 3, Runs- 277, Average- 92.33

Root- Matches- 5, Runs- 203, Average- 50.75

Ben Stokes couldn't do anything wrong in England's tournament opener against South Africa

Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes (Key Player): After Roy and Root got out in quick succession, Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes had to rebuild yet again. They did that to perfection with a counter-attacking approach. Morgan fell after scoring a quick fifty but Ben Stokes understood that the pitch wasn't easy to bat and as a result, he almost batted out the entire fifty overs.

Stokes' day didn't end with his 89-run knock as he made it a match to remember with an unbelievable catch to dismiss Phehlukwayo. Stokes then went on to pick a couple of wickets to finish the match. Such an all-round performance got him the Man of the match award.

Performances against Pakistan in 5-match ODI series-

Eoin Morgan- Matches- 4, Runs- 164, Average- 164

Ben Stokes- Matches- 5, Runs- 129, Average- 64.50

Jos Buttler batting against South Africa

Jos Buttler (Key Player): Like Bairstow, Buttler also had a bad day as he got out for 18 runs. Considering that Buttler is one of the best-limited overs in the world currently, it won't even be a surprise if he comes up with a whirlwind knock against Pakistan.

Performance against Pakistan in 5-match ODI series-

Matches- 4, Runs- 144, Average- 72

Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid: Moeen had a relatively disappointing day as he couldn't contribute much with the bat and also went for quite a few runs with the ball. Rassie van der Dussen took quite a liking to Moeen Ali's bowling.

On the other hand, Adil Rashid had a respectable day as he kept his economy rate pretty low.

Performances against Pakistan in 5-match ODI series-

Moeen Ali- Matches- 4, Wickets- 1, Average- 191

Adil Rashid- Matches- 4, Wickets- 3, Average- 62.33

Chris Woakes: Woakes chipped in with a few runs with the bat while he was steady without being spectacular with the new ball. Woakes will be looking to be a bit more penetrative against Pakistan.

Performance against Pakistan in 5-match ODI series-

Matches- 4, Wickets- 10, Average- 21.20

Jofra Archer passionately celebrating a wicket against South Africa

Jofra Archer (Key Player): Fast-tracked into the England team, Jofra Archer put in yet another performance which justified his burgeoning potential. Archer was the most important enforcer for England as the team looked to consciously attack South Africa with short-pitched bowling. Archer ended up with 3 important wickets while also being miserly with his economy rate.

Performance against Pakistan in 5-match ODI series-

Matches- 2, Wickets- 2, Average- 34

Liam Plunkett: Plunkett also had a fruitful day against South Africa as he ended up with 2 wickets. As usual, he operated in the middle overs and bowled hard lengths in order to stifle South Africa.

Performance against Pakistan in 5-match ODI series-

Matches- 3, Wickets- 4, Average- 36.50

Predicted Playing 11 for England:

Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (C), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (WK), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.

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