Azhar Mahmood backs Pakistan to stop England breaking their own world record

Melinda Farrell

Azhar Mahmood has issued a rallying call to the Pakistan team ahead of their World Cup clash with England, reminding them they only need "ten good balls" to account for England's powerful batting line-up.

Monday's game will be played on the same pitch which saw England reach a record score of 481 for 6 against Australia last summer but the Pakistan bowling coach believes his side's attack has the wicket-taking firepower to ensure that record remains intact.

"We know we have ability, they have skill, and they are the best batting line-up," said Mahmood after Pakistan's training session at Trent Bridge. "But a lot of it going on, the 480 pitch has been a world record pitch, but they have to play 300 balls to get to that record, but we have to bowl 10 good balls to get 10 wickets.

"So we have ability, we have the skills to do that, and hopefully we can do it tomorrow."

Pakistan suffered an 11th straight loss in their dismal opening match against the West Indies at Trent Bridge but will take some inspiration from better performances in their four-match series against England last month. While they lost that series four-nil, Mahmood denied it would be a significant upset should Pakistan pull off a victory over the hosts.

"No upset. We can beat them," said Mahmood. "It's not upset. We have ability to beat them. If you see the one-day series, we were not that far from England. They scored 1430-odd runs, we scored 1370 runs, so we were 70 runs short.

"Unfortunately our fielding was not up to the mark and we gave extra bonus because we have an inexperienced bowling line-up, young bowling line-up. They need to learn from their mistakes. So we know what England can do, and we know what we can do."

Mahmood also pointed out the similarity to Pakistan's position at the same stage of the 2017 Champions Trophy. Pakistan lost heavily to India in their opening match of that tournament but then embarked on a winning streak that included ending England's campaign in the semi-finals and then defeating India in the final.

"We are one win away from coming back, and that's happened in the Champions Trophy as well," said Mahmood. "We lost in the Champions Trophy and then we came back hard. So whenever we have lost, we come back stronger, and we have the ability to bounce back.

"I totally believe in this team - totally. If you see these guys, they were part of the Champions Trophy as well, so they have experience. They've played in England, so they have enough experience and motivation to go and win the game for Pakistan.

"This is a World Cup. It won't be easy for us. It will be a roller coaster, not for us, for all the teams. It's a big tournament, so as long as we learn from our mistakes and we move on, it's better for us."