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| September 05, 2006 | Tuesday | Sha'aban 11, 1427 |
England search for elusive ODI win
SOUTHAMPTON (England), Sept 4: England go into Tuesday's third One-day International against Pakistan hoping to level the five-match series and end a terrible run in limited-overs games.
The defeat on Saturday at Lord's was their eighth in the last nine games — with the other abandoned after rain.
One change will definitely have to be made to the team, with veteran seamer Darren Gough ruled out of the last three games because of a shin injury.
Graham Onions could come in at The Rose Bowl, which traditionally favours seamers.
The 23-year-old has not played much one-day cricket for Durham this season —- and has been expensive when used, although he has taken 47 wickets in 13 Championship games.
He is confident he can make the step up, telling BBC Sport: “I've got pace, I hit the seam, hit the deck hard and, if I get a chance, would love to bowl at these Pakistanis.
“I didn't think I'd be here but I've been given an opportunity and want to give 110% to represent my country.”
Coach Duncan Fletcher added: “He's bowled very well this year and this is an opportunity for him to carry on the form he's shown on the county scene.”
Onions is brought in, he will link up with a team that has become accustomed to losing.
Only two of the last 12 ODIs have been won by Fletcher's men - one of which was against Ireland.
But he insists there is not much wrong that having a settled line-up could not sort out.
“They know they're good enough — some of the players are world-class and they've done it before,” Fletcher said.
“We've got a very young side, especially the bowling attack. People are trying to bed down and we're trying to get some consistency going.
“They’ve got to know their roles and they can only do that when they've played on numerous occasions together.”
England's chief destroyer at Lord's, Shoaib Akhtar, says his team will not under-estimate the hosts despite their struggles.
“We are exploiting their weakness right now, but at the same time we are cautious,” the paceman said.
“They definitely can come back at us really hard – they are hard to beat.
“I think they have very good players but we are going to keep working on our plans and keep our heads focused.”
Teams (from):
ENGLAND: Andrew Strauss (captain), Marcus Trescothick, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Ed Joyce, Jamie Dalrymple, Rikki Clarke, Michael Yardy, Chris Read, Sajid Mahmood, Jon Lewis, Stuart Broad, Graham Onions.
PAKISTAN: Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, Imran Farhat, Danish Kaneria, Rao Iftikhar, Umar Gul, Shahid Yousuf.—Agencies
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