Michael Vaughan: Momentum is with Pakistan now

Pakistan v England / Michael Vaughan / 24 February 2012 /

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Umar Gul (centre) was outstanding in Pakistan's victory in the first T20

"If the ball is reversing on a dry pitch, Pakistan's attack is going to be too hot to handle."

Michael Vaughan was impressed by Pakistan's bowling attack as they defended 144 in the first T20 yesterday in Dubai and expects them to prevail again on Saturday...

It was a good game yesterday, made all the better for actually having a crowd in - it was a great atmosphere.

Of course, England should have won - needing 33 off the last 25 balls with seven wickets in hand - but, in Umar Gul, Pakistan have probably got the best death bowler in world cricket, alongside Lasith Malinga.

If the ball is reversing on a dry pitch, Pakistan's attack is going to be too hot to handle and so it proved.

The key wicket was Ravi Bopara's. Once he was gone, it was difficult for the batsmen to get the runs and get them quickly enough. Bopara played well again, building on his performances in the one-day series; it's good to see that he is finding some consistency.

Looking ahead to Saturday's game and you have to say Pakistan have the edge now. I wouldn't be surprised if the series was a whitewash - they seem to be all the rage when England play!

Momentum is so important, particularly in Twenty20 cricket. Pakistan haven't got the best batting line-up but Gul, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal are three outstanding bowlers who can take away a game from any team.

So, Pakistan at [2.08] is a confident bet here. if they win the toss and it's a dry pitch I'll be climbing right in.

You can't say England didn't pick the right team yesterday, but you could make a case for Tim Bresnan to come in for Steven Finn, who took a bit of a battering.

Picking a Top Batsman is so hard in T20 because of the nature of the beast. But KP is in that good a form at the moment that you can't bet against him, despite the sheer volume of big shots he plays. A small bet at around [4.5] is the way to go here.

If you're looking for a candidate from Pakistan I'd plump for Asad Shafiq. He's playing very nicely at the moment.

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Pakistan to win @ [2.08]
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