ENG vs PAK, 3rd Test: Hosts Eye Win At Southampton To Secure Second Straight Series Win On Home Soil

A victory for England will take them past arch rivals Australia into the second place in the ICC World Test Championship. Meanwhile, Pakistan who are currently occupying the fifth spot will overtake fourth position New Zealand if they secure a win at Southampton Test.

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Joe Root-hemmed England will go into third and final Test of the 3-match series against Pakistan at the Ageas Oval in Southampton with sights on a win and eye on clinching the series 2-0. The hosts who lead the series 1-0 courtesy their remarkable win in the series opener at Manchester need a mere draw to win their first ever Test series against Pakistan in over a decade. While England would be looking at winning a second straight Test series on home soil after beating the West Indies in their last Test engagement, Pakistan would take some confidence from their impressive record against the hosts and look to secure a win to level the series. It is notable that Pakistan boasts of one of the most impressive records against England in Test cricket, not losing to a series to the Three Lions in the red ball format since 2010.England have not won a series against Pakistan since 2010 when they won the series 3-1. A victory for England will take them past arch rivals Australia into the second place in the ICC World Test Championship. Meanwhile, Pakistan who are currently occupying the fifth spot will overtake fourth position New Zealand if they secure a win at Southampton Test. Rain has played spoilsport all through the series and resulted in the second Test ending in a pale draw. Fans would hope for the rain gods to stay away over the skies at Southampton. With the threat of rain looming large again at Southampton, there are growing debates on whether to hold the play under lights. To counter the concerns of bad light, it has been decided that if there is rain interruption, the play on the next day would start early to cover up the remaining overs. England and Pakistan have agreed to revised playing conditions under which Test cricket could begin at 10.30 am to make up for the time lost due to bad weather. "Following positive discussions with the England & Wales Cricket Board, (ECB) the International Cricket Council (ICC), led by Match Referee Chris Broad and various stakeholders including broadcast partners, the ECB and the ICC have agreed to revised start times ahead of the #raisethebat third Test starting on Friday at the Ageas Bowl," a statement on the ECB website said. England vs Pakistan, 3rd Test Squads: England: Joe Root (C), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, James Bracey, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach Pakistan: Azhar Ali (C), Babar Azam, Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Imam ul haq, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah.