Pak Vs Eng: England chase semi-final after another spin warning

pak vs eng now carries immediate consequence: England beat Sri Lanka by 51 runs on Sunday, and a victory over Pakistan on Tuesday will secure them a place in the semi-finals.

Pak Vs Eng: spin attack in focus

England’s batting problems against slow bowling were evident in the Sri Lanka match when four of their top five were dismissed by spinners and Tom Banton was run out; those dismissals sit beside a tournament total in which 21 of England’s 38 wickets have fallen to spin rather than pace. That sequence has shown up in specific innings — four wickets in succession against Italy and six in a row through the middle of the innings in the defeat by West Indies in Mumbai.

Pakistan’s heavy use of tweakers

Pakistan have made spin a central weapon: they used six different spinners in their match against India earlier in the tournament and have bowled a higher percentage of spin than any other team, listing options such as Usman Tariq, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan and Abrar Ahmed among their attack. Batter Sahibzada Farhan said England "were struggling against the spinners" and added, "I am confident we will give them a tough time, " framing Pakistan’s approach ahead of the Pak vs eng match.

Why England’s recent numbers raise questions

Those tournament figures mark a sharp turn from what came before: in the T20 series against Sri Lanka prior to this World Cup England lost only three wickets to spin across three matches, and in the one-day international series that preceded it the group averaged 43. 9 collectively against the turning ball. Yet on this biggest stage the team’s ability to handle spin has nose-dived, and the Sri Lanka win was only the third occasion in the tournament when England were unable to break a spin-dominated stranglehold.

With a semi-final spot on the line on Tuesday, the match will be a direct test of whether England can reverse those numbers against a Pakistan side that has prioritized spin and rotated its tweakers heavily in matches such as the contest with India.

The next confirmed event is England’s match against Pakistan on Tuesday; a win there will secure England a place in the semi-finals.