Pakistan bowling coach Azhar Mahmood believes his side has what it takes to defeat England, as they prepare to face a side which has beaten them four times in the past month.
“It wouldn’t be an upset, we can beat them, and we have the ability to beat them,” he said.
“In the one-day series we weren’t that far away from England, but our fielding wasn’t quite up to the mark.
"We gave extra runs because we had an inexperienced, young bowling line up and they need to learn from their mistakes, but we know what England can do and we know what we can do.”
The visitors will be looking for redemption following their opening defeat to the West Indies, with Mahmood insistent that his batsmen have been working on how they will cope with the short-pitched deliveries which were ultimately their downfall on Friday.
“We didn’t handle the short ball very well, but we’ve practiced a lot and we know it will come, the whole team has practiced against the short ball.
“We’ve done it before and now we need to move on and concentrate on the next game.
“Our guys are used to bowling short deliveries in the nets, it’s not necessarily that we have to do it now because we were bowled out for 107.
“They are professional, and we have to adapt to face any challenge that is in front of us.
England have gained a reputation for brutal batting at Trent Bridge, having twice broken the world record for ODI totals in Nottingham in recent years.
However, Mahmood has faith in his bowlers to perform in a challenging environment.
“We know they have a great team and they have the best batting line up and there’s been a lot of talk of it being a 480 pitch,but they have to play 300 balls to get to that record and we just have to bowl ten good balls to get 10 wickets,” he said.
“We have the skills to do that and hopefully we can do it tomorrow.”
Despite Pakistan’s winless run stretching back to their series against South Africa and Australia, Mahmood feels Pakistan are one good performance away from getting back on track.
“In the Champions Trophy [which Pakistan won in 2017] we lost the first game, and then we came back hard so we know that when we lose, we come back stronger and we have the ability to bounce back.
“I totally believe in this team, and the World Cup won’t be an easy ride for any side.
“As we learn from our mistakes and go on it will be better for us.”
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A Notts Outlaws squad brimming with international talent will commence their T20 Vitality Blast campaign against Worcestershire Rapids at Trent Bridge on Thursday 18 July, with advance tickets priced at £10 for adults and £5 for under 16s. Secure your seats here…