PAK vs ENG, T20 World Cup: Keeping an 'open mind' on Wood, Malan for final - England coach Mott
England are set to take on Pakistan in the final match of the T20 World Cup on Sunday. Ahead of the final clash, coach Matthew Mott said the team is "keeping an open mind" over the availability of Mark Wood and Dawid Malan.
Both Wood and Malan suffered injuries during England's final Super 12 game against Sri Lanka and were replaced in the playing XI by Chris Jordan and Phil Salt respectively for Thursday's semifinal against India in Adelaide. In that match, the men in blue were defeated by 10 wickets by the Jos Buttler-led team.
"We'll keep an open mind. It's a short turnaround again: a travel day and then almost straight into it with one training session," Mott said.
"There's not a lot of time for them. I'd like to maintain a little bit of hope for them but it's disappointing. They've been two great players for us, over history but particularly over the last month.
"They're big players but as we've shown, with the depth of players coming in and finding a way, and the versatility within the group, we can manage around it," Mott added.
Wood has taken nine wickets from four matches so far in the tournament. On the other hand, Malan sustained a groin injury in England's four-wicket win over Sri Lanka last Saturday.
Having reached Melbourne, the venue for the final, on Friday, England will train once before the title clash.
What are the full squads?
Team Pakistan: Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Haris
Team England: Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Tymal Mills, Philip Salt
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