England v Pakistan: Third Test lowdown on Edgbaston
Wednesday 3 August 2016 11:56, UK
England and Pakistan head to the third Investec Test at Edgbaston - live on Sky Sports 2 from 10am on Wednesday - with the series locked at 1-1.
Will England build on their thumping 330-run win at Emirates Old Trafford? Or will Yasir Shah and co come back strong in the Midlands?
A lot will depend on what is served up by the Edgbaston surface - so what can we expect?
The pitch
The pitch is generally quite dry and suits the spinners, especially later in the match. The 'King of Spain', Ashley Giles, plied his trade at Edgbaston, while the fact Warwickshire have had New Zealand off-spinner Jeetan Patel as their overseas player in every season since 2009, bar 2010, tells a story.
Patel is leading from the front again in 2016, with 35 wickets Championship wickets at an average of 27.29 - although only 11 of those have come at home, something that may rule out England playing two spinners. Batsmen are set to enjoy themselves, however.
Four of Warwickshire's five games at Edgbaston this term have been drawn, the last of which saw 531 play 398-6 against Hampshire. Adam Wheater (204no) struck a double-century for the visitors, with Liam Dawson (116) and the hosts' Sam Hain (135) and Tim Ambrose (104) also hitting tons.
England's recent record
Edgbaston is a very happy hunting ground for England, the hosts winning 25 of the 48 Tests played there, including seven of their last 11. Given that record, it is a surprise England's 2015 trip to the ground was their first for three years - but what a triumphant return it was!
Live Test Cricket
Steven Finn - who could well return to the Test team this week - completed match figures of 8-117, picking up six in the second innings, as England romped to an eight-wicket win over Australia to move 2-1 up in an Ashes series they would go on to win 3-2.
Alastair Cook will have fond memories from scoring 294 against India at Edgbaston in 2011, while Joe Root and Alex Hales have recent ODI tons at the ground - Root against New Zealand last summer and Hales against Sri Lanka earlier this term.
Record against Pakistan
England have never lost to Pakistan at Edgbaston, winning four of their seven encounters, although the two have only squared off at the venue twice in the last 19 years.
England won the most recent of those clashes in 2010, a nine-wicket thumping after skittling Pakistan out for 72 in their first innings - Jimmy Anderson (4-20) and Stuart Broad (4-38) doing the bulk of the damage.
Kevin Pietersen top-scored with 80 as England tallied 251, and an innings victory looked on the cards as the hosts again blasted out the Pakistan top order to reduce them to 101-6.
But wicketkeeper-batsman, Zulqarnain Haider - remember him? - struck 88 on debut, and put on 115 with Saeed Ajmal (50) for the eighth wicket to give the tourists some hope, only for Graeme Swann (6-65) to bowl out the tail, and England to chase down 118 with relative ease.
Watch the third Test between England and Pakistan from Edgbaston, live on Sky Sports 2 from 10am on Wednesday.
