On the eve of their second match of the tournament, Pakistani bowling coach believes that the bowlers have the ability and skill to stop English batsmen from scoring 400 plus runs at Trent Bridge.
England and Pakistan will play their second match of the World Cup on the strip which has produced two world record totals in the last three years.
Talking to media, the former Pakistani all-rounder Azhar Mahmood said, “We know we have the ability, they have the skill, and they are the best batting line-up.”
“But a lot of it going on, the 480 pitch has been a world record pitch, but they have to play 300 balls to get to that record, but we have to bowl 10 good balls to get 10 wickets.”
“So we have the ability, we have the skills to do that, and hopefully we can do it tomorrow,” says Mahmood.
Azhar Mahmood explained why Pakistan’s win wouldn’t be a World Cup upset, “It’s not upset. We can beat them. If you see the one-day series, we were not that far from England. They scored 1430-odd runs; we scored 1370 runs, so we were 70 runs short.”
Pakistan has lost 12 games in a trot, and their performance in their first match has put a lot of questions on the team’s capability.
English captain Eoin Morgan, who is riding high on confidence after their victory against South Africa, is expecting fierce competition from Pakistan.
He said that the team is not taking Pakistan lightly as they can make a comeback anytime.
“We prepare for Pakistan at their best. Two years ago they were the best side in the world in the Champions Trophy. They turned us over, and they turned India over. We’ll be preparing as best we can for their A game,” said Morgan.
When asked if they are looking to beat the record of the highest total (481) in ODI, Morgan said, “To get anywhere near 481 you have to play unbelievably well. It starts with the very basics of getting ourselves into an innings. You always start at 0. And this pitch may be a bit different. It looks as if it may be a bit two-paced and with steeper bounce.”
The forecast is for a cloudy but dry day in Nottingham. No chances of rain expected.
