England, Pakistan Looks to Take Lead

Birmingham: After four-Test series is leveled by 1-1, England will take on Pakistan in 3rd Test in Edgbaston on Wednesday.

Pakistan touched hearts at Lord's, but their no-show in Old Trafford set the tongues wagging once again over the lame topic of subcontinental teams not being competitive enough in England.

However, after a short break which saw England players taking time off and a struggling touring side working desperately to get things in order by playing in a tour match, the rivalry will resume again at Edgbaston with serious question over Pakistan's middle-order that looks brittle.

The pitch at Old Trafford remained true to its nature -- England piled up close to 600 and Pakistan failed to cross 300 even once in their two innings, and Younis and Azhar's failures added to Pakistan's woes.

Nevertheless, after yet another solid show in the warm-up game against Worcestershire, Azhar Ali will once again be expect to make runs.

For England, Chris Woakes is having a dream series, which meant James Anderson and Stuart Broad have not been needed to fire all cylinders at another bouncy England wicket.

Ben Stokes' injury has opened one slot and England will be Jake Ball or Steven Finn may get to have another crack at Pakistan.

England's batting will once again be overly dependent on Alastair Cook and Joe Root.

Gary Ballance is yet to prove he is past his shortcomings and James Vince has been unwontedly flashy, and Alex Hales has lost the form and rhythm he gained against Sri Lanka earlier this English summer.

Teams from:

England: Alastair Cook (Capt.), Alex Hales, Joe Root, James Vince, Gary Ballance, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Jake Ball and Adil Rashid

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (Capt.), Mohammad Hafeez, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Aamer, Rahat Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, Sohail Khan, Sami Aslam, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan and Imran Khan.

Match facts
3-7 August 2016
Start time: 1100 local (1000 GMT, 4pm Pak)

Scores	Upcoming	Results
South Africa vs Pakistan - 3rd ODI 4th Test - Australia v India - December 26-30, 23:30 GMT 1st Test - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan - December 26-30, 07:30 GMT 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Harare Afghanistan won by 8 wickets (with 139 balls remaining) 3rd T20I - West Indies v Bangladesh at St Vincent Bangladesh won by 80 runs

Latif, Sharjeel Fire Pakistan to 9-wicket Win [+]

Pakistan hammered England by nine wickets in their tour-ending Twenty20 international at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Sarfraz, Malik Earn Consolation Win [+]

Pakistan chase down 303 in the final ODI in Cardiff to deny England a whitewash.

Stokes, Bairstow Guide England go to 4-0 up [+]

Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow both made fifties as England beat Pakistan by four wickets in the fourth one-day international at Headingley on Thursday.

Pakistan name squad for England T20 [+]

Pakistan Thursday announced a 13-man squad for the only Twenty20 against England to be played at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Stokes returns to the England T20 squad [+]

Ben Stokes has returned to the England Twenty20 squad for the first time since being hit for four sixes in the final over of the World T20, when West Indies beat England.

England Hit ODI Record in Series Win [+]

England post the highest ever one-day international total as they beat Pakistan by 169 runs to secure a series victory at Trent Bridge.

England break ODI record as posted 444-3 [+]

Host posted the highest ever one-day international total and Alex Hales struck a record 171 in the third ODI against Pakistan at Trent Bridge.

Hafeez Ruled out of England series [+]

Pakistan opening batsman Mohammad Hafeez has been ruled out of the remaining three one-day internationals and one-off Twenty20 against England due to calf injury.

Impressive England win, Take 2-0 lead [+]

England produce another polished display to beat Pakistan at Lord's by four wickets and take a 2-0 lead in the one-day series.

England beat Pakistan in rain-affected first ODI [+]

England coast to a 44-run win over Pakistan in a rain-affected first one-day international in Southampton on Wednesday.