England hunt whitewash to end tour

Match facts

November 30, 2015
Start time 8.00pm local (1600 GMT)

Big Picture

By the time England complete their final match of this series they will have been in the UAE for 61 days. They will leave this trip with two series wins under their belts, both in the white-ball format as was the case on the previous visit in 2012. The one-day and T20 sides continue to play vibrant cricket, both victories in the shortest format coming with different combinations as England opt to give all their players a chance.

The results have suggested there is an increasing pool of talent for the selectors to feel confident in: James Vince has slotted in very calmly at No. 3 and Liam Plunkett has responded impressively from his omission for the South Africa Test series. Sam Billings and Stephen Parry have also enhanced their chances of going to the World T20 in India.

Pakistan, meanwhile, appear in something of a funk with their white-ball cricket although their performance in the second match in Dubai was an improvement. They do not seem certain whether to trust youth or experience. Their fielding has been poor - Umar Akmal's boundary-parry catch to removing Billings was an exception - and the batting is hampering by uncertain running between the wickets.

For some of the England squad there will be just a week at home before they depart for the Test series in South Africa, others including Vince will remain in the UAE for the England Lions series against Pakistan A. With the series against India remaining in limbo, Pakistan could be set for a longer break before heading to New Zealand early next year for a series of limited-overs matches.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LLWWW
England WWWWW

In the spotlight

Depending on your point of view the Rafatullah Mohmand story is either a terrific tale of a player who never gave up or an indictment of Pakistan's selectors who have opted for a 39-year-old instead of a younger player (as often in Pakistan cricket, there does not seem much middle ground in the debate). He has 39 runs in his two innings, nowhere near enough evidence to make a judgement either way - so is anyone really any the wiser on whether he should go to the World T20? He may get the final match of this series, on the other hand he may not.

If you sat down a group of people who weren't the England selectors and asked them to pick a 15-man squad for the World T20 it is unlikely you would have two of the same permutations (and even the selectors may all differ). Plenty of fringe players have thrown their hat into the ring in these two matches, among them Lancashire's Stephen Parry who has impressed with his nous and confidence to give the ball a rip, and bowl it slowly. There were signs in the second match that Pakistan's batsmen were setting themselves for the delivery he drags down, but England will probably want three spinners in the final World T20 squad and Parry has a great chance of being there.

Teams news

Pakistan may need an extra spin option in Sharjah which would open the way for Bilal Asif to have an outing. With the series lost they may feel inclined to make more changes: Aamer Yamin and Mohammad Irfan have not played in the first two matches.

Pakistan (possible) 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Rafatullah Mohmand, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Bilal Asif, 9 Anwar Ali, 10 Sohail Tanvir, 11 Wahab Riaz

England have given all their 15 a chance during the opening two contests so the combination for the final outing could be anything. One option is to allow everyone at least two matches which, barring injuries, could mean something like this

England (possible) 1 Jason Roy, 2 James Vince, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 David Willey, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 Stephen Parry, 11 Reece Topley

Pitch and conditions

The Sharjah surface has been the most abrasive seen across the three venues on this tour while the outfield has been on the slow side, which could bring the totals down a notch. With winter approaching it is cooling down a little in the Emirates, but there are no issues over the weather.

Stats and trivia

• England have played five previous three-match T20 series and have never secured a whitewash

• The most wickets for England in a bilateral T20 series is seven by Stuart Broad against New Zealand in 2013. Liam Plunkett currently has six in two matches. The most for any side in a series of up to three matches is nine by David Wiese against West Indies in January 2015.

• Shahid Afridi's performance in Dubai of 3 for 15 and 24 off eight balls was just the third time in his 86-match career that he had taken at least three wickets and scored at least 20 runs in the same match

Quotes

"I was included in the squad last summer, but didn't get the chance to play. So it's nice to come out here and get an opportunity - I'm enjoying every minute of it. It's been a steady start."
Before this series, James Vince's one England cap was a rain-ruined game against Ireland where he didn't bat

"We were second in the world, but we are maybe lacking in fitness. It's a fitness game. There are no excuses - we have to raise our game."
Mushtaq Ahmed suggests Pakistan's main problem is perhaps not with bat or ball