CARDIFF: The one-off Twenty20 International between England and Pakistan on Sunday will help the teams get into match mode before they throw themselves completely into preparation for the ICC World Cup which is now less than a month away.

Duckett, a late call-up to the squad, is also waiting for his T20I debut, while James Vince, who made 18 against Ireland, will be hoping for better numbers to bolster his case ahead of the ODIs.

Most players will agree that there’s nothing like match practice against strong opposition in suitable conditions to get ready for a big tournament. Which means that England, the No.1 side on the ICC ODI team rankings, and Pakistan, No.1 on the corresponding T20I rankings, who are set to play a one-off T20I and a five-match ODI series in England and Wales before the World Cup starting on May 30, will be two of the best prepared sides for the premier event.

A lot of the focus will be on the ODI series between the sides as the hosts, especially, try to answer some late questions: Will Jofra Archer find a place in the final 15? Can the other pacers lift their game? Who will stand up to be counted for the spot left vacant by Alex Hales? But before that, the T20 International should make for a tasty appetiser.

England still aren’t their full-strength squad. They will go in with the same set of players who scrapped to a four-wicket ODI win against Ireland on Friday after being reduced to 101-6 at one stage. Archer, who by his own admission was nervous to make his debut against Ireland, is likely to get another go, while his fellow pacer Chris Jordan, who didn’t feature in the XI in the last game, could get a look in.

Meanwhile, uncapped Sussex batsman Phil Salt was added to England’s squad for the Pakistan T20 following Dawid Malan’s withdrawal through injury.

Middlesex’s Malan suffered a groin problem while batting during England’s unconvincing four-wicket win away to Ireland in a lone ODI on Friday and will now miss the one-off T20 in Cardiff.

Welsh-born Salt, 22 has made just the four fifties in 35 T20 matches but a strike-rate of 151.50 has put him on the radar of England selectors.

This season Salt has make an unbeaten 137 off just 106 balls for Sussex against Kent in the 50-over One-Day Cup. Salt, who spent part of his childhood in Barbados, has also played for Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League.

On the other hand, Pakistan go into Sunday’s Twenty20 at Sophia Gardens with their batsmen in fine form. Imad Wasim, Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam have smashed hundreds in their tour wins so far. However, on Sunday the tourists will be without veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik, who has been granted leave by the team management, and there is an injury cloud over experienced pro Mohammad Hafeez as well.

All eyes will be on pace merchant Mohammad Amir, who found himself out of the preliminary World Cup squad. In his only game on tour so far, he picked up one wicket.

Teams (from):

ENGLAND: Eoin Morgan (captain), Jofra Archer, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, James Vince, David Willey, Ben Foakes, Phil Salt, Ben Duckett

PAKISTAN: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Abid Ali, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Asif Ali.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2019