England vs Pakistan cricket betting tips & odds – First T20I

Following a dramatic ODI series England and Pakistan are set to do battle at Trent Bridge on Friday night in the first of three Twenty20 Internationals. Betting Planet presents our best bets and match analysis for what will be the 19th matchup between these two countries in T20 internationals.

England vs Pakistan 1st T20I match analysis

Following a covid-19 outbreak within their limited overs squad following the Sri Lankan series last month, the England T20I squad is basically back to full strength for the first T20I against Pakistan. The likes of Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow return to the white ball squad, while Lewis Gregory and Saqib Mahmood have been rewarded for strong efforts in the ODI series with a spot in this T20 squad.

There is no spot for the dynamic Ben Stokes however, who returns to his local county side Durham to build on his form and fitness following a broken finger in the IPL in August in a bid to be raring to go for the test series against India next month. England are coming off a 3-0 series whitewash in their T20I series against Sri Lanka prior to this Pakistan limited overs series and with a T20 World Cup on the horizon a strong performance first up is expected for the #1 ranked side in the world.

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Despite a less than ideal start to the ODI series, the way Pakistan responded in the third ODI will give them a boost of confidence heading into the T20 portion of the tour. Despite not be able to defend 331; Babar Azam (158) and Mohammad Rizwan (74) both found themselves in the runs ahead of this first T20I. If opener Fakhar Zaman can find himself in the runs, then this top four that Pakistan hold could give this English bowling attack plenty of headaches on Friday night.

Pakistan’s bowling attack is arguably their strongest side of their T20 game, with the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Imad Wasim proving hard to score against and are constant wicket-taking threats. Throw in the craft and skill of leg-spinning allrounder Shadab Khan and this Pakistani outfit could prove difficult to breakdown on Friday night.

England vs Pakistan 1st T20I betting predictions

Pakistan To Win

If Pakistan can get their fielding side of things down pat, then they match up really well against this English line-up. In the most recent T20I between the two countries in September last year, Pakistan walked away five run victors on the back of a well-constructed innings by Mohammad Hafeez where he made 86*. If one of the Pakistan top four can reproduce a similar innings, then they present good value in the first T20I.

Pakistan Top Wicket Taker – Haris Rauf

It was not all that long ago that Haris Rauf burst onto the scene with an outstanding debut campaign for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League. Fast forward a couple of years, and Rauf is now a key cog in this Pakistan limited overs line-up. He has 25 wickets to his name from 19 T20I’s and has a strike-rate of a tick under 17. He is expected to share the new ball with Shaeen Shah Afridi and then close out the innings with all his changeup deliveries, and we will back him to take two or three wickets along the way and finish the innings as Pakistan’s top wicket taker.