The top seven teams and hosts Pakistan will qualify for the Champions Trophy 2025; Watch England take on Pakistan live on Sky Sports Cricket with coverage from 8am ahead of the first ball at 8.30am.
Saturday 11 November 2023 07:58, UK
England will look to end their World Cup campaign on a high when they come up against Pakistan on Saturday at Eden Gardens in Kolkata to stay in contention for the Champions Trophy.
Ben Stokes finally put an end to England's losing streak after smashing his first World Cup century and leading his side to an emphatic win over the Netherlands on Wednesday.
However, concerns remain over the rest of the squad, and in particular captain Jos Buttler, after he was dismissed for five. He started the tournament with 43 against New Zealand, but hasn't managed a score higher than 20 since, averaging 13.87 at this World Cup.
The top seven teams and hosts Pakistan will qualify for the Champions Trophy in 2025.
"We're not playing for what we wanted to be playing for, but a really vital match for us in the grand scheme of things," Buttler said after England beat the Netherlands by 160 runs at Pune.
"It's great to be heading there [Pakistan game] with something on the line. It would be easy for us to tail off.
"Credit to everyone for still putting [effort] in and showing how much it means to play for England and the pride in our performance. Of course, the Champions Trophy is something we're very focused on and determined to make sure we're there."
After England were officially eliminated from the World Cup following their defeat to Australia, the question was asked if Stokes would consider leaving the World Cup to have his knee operated on earlier than scheduled but he refused to leave his team behind.
Pakistan come into this fixture off the back of two wins, against New Zealand in a rain-affected encounter and a nine-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
However, the 1992 champions now face the almost impossible task of making it to the semi-finals. They currently have four wins from eight games and must match New Zealand's five wins and drastically improve their net run-rate to make it to the knockout stages.
If Pakistan bat first they will have to beat England by at least 287 runs to leapfrog New Zealand, who are currently in fourth place with a net run-rate of +0.743. Pakistan are fifth place with a net run-rate of +0.036.
Like England's skipper, Babar Azam is also facing questions around his captaincy following a disappointing World Cup campaign.
Babar entered the World Cup as the top-ranked ODI batter but his average of 40.28 is behind three of his team mates.
His highest score has been of 74 during Pakistan's shock defeat to Afghanistan but Babar denies that captaincy is affecting his performance with the bat.
"Once we go back to Pakistan, we will see what happens. Right now, I am not focusing on this. My focus is on the next match," Babar said.
"I have been captaining my team for the last three years and I have never felt pressure," he said.
"I have not performed the way I should have in the World Cup, that's why people are saying that I am under pressure.
"Over the last two and half or three years I was the one who was performing for the side and leading the team."
Babar added: "It seems everyone has an opinion on me - he should be like this, or like that. If someone really wants to advise me, I think everyone has my number. But I guess it is easy to give advice on TV."
You can watch England take on Pakistan at Eden Gardens in Kolkata live on Sky Sports Cricket with coverage from 8am ahead of the first ball at 8.30am.
