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The Pakistan cricket team will gear up to face England in the 4th and final ODI of the series in Dubai, looking to salvage some lost pride after being comprehensively beaten by the Poms in every match thus far. Pakistan's batting has let them down time and again in this series and that lack of confidence in their top order seemed to have now filtered into their bowling unit too, which remains a huge cause of concern. England will also be equally determined to make it a clean sweep, particularly after the hammering they received in the tests at the hands of this opposition.

Pakistan

The demoralising loss that they suffered in the third one dayer at the hands of Alastair Cook and company will have taken the wind out of the Pakistani sails and they will have to show plenty of character and desire in the final one dayer to turn things around. Pakistan's top order batting fared poorly in the 3rd match, which saw the men in green slump to 50/4 at one stage on a pretty harmless pitch. The good news for the team management though is the return to form of Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi, who have been amongst the runs lately. The middle order might be bolstered by the possible return of veteran Younus Khan from illness that saw him miss out on the 3rd game. Azhar Ali, Mohammed Hafeez and Asad Shafiq have shown that they have the talent to survive at this level, but they will have to make it count soon.

Pakistan's bowling too suffered at the hands of Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook a few nights back and unless they can get rid of the England skipper early, the visitors are guaranteed another big score. Umar Gul seems to have lost his edge in one day matches not that reverse swing has gone out of the window due to the twin new balls, while the Pakistani spinners are proving less of a threat on pitches designed for run making.

England:

England have done most things right in the one dayers so far and hence this could be the ideal opportunity to experiment before the Sri Lankan tour, given that the series is done and dusted. There could be a rare opportunity for the likes of Johnny Bairstow and Jos Buttler to make a mark in this game on the batting front with Craig Keiswetter likely to hand the keeping duties to Buttler and one among the senior batsmen may sit out to accommodate Bairstow.

England's bowling may also see a few changes as part of the preparation for a long Sri Lanka tour ahead. We could see the return of Jade Dernbach and Tim Bresnan into the one day setup with Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad the likely candidates to sit out and take a break. Left arm spinner Danny Briggs might also get a rare opportunity ahead of Swann, who seems like a man overworked in recent times. England will still want to keep the momentum going though, especially with the T20s beckoning in a couple of days time.

Form Guide:

England : W W W
18th Feb 2012: beat Pakistan by 9 wickets
15th Feb 2012: beat Pakistan by 20 runs
13th Feb 2012: beat Pakistan by 130 runs

Pakistan: L L L
18th Feb 2012: Lost to England by 9 wickets
15th Feb 2012: Lost to England by 20 runs
13th Feb 2012: Lost to England by 130 runs

Likely XIs

England: Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen/ J Bairstow, J Trott, R Bopara, E Morgan, J Buttler, S Patel, S Broad, G Swann/D Briggs, T Bresnan, S Finn/J Dernabach

Pakistan: M Hafeez, I Farhat, A Ali, Y Khan, Misbah Ul Haq, U Akmal, S Afridi, A Akmal, U Gul, S Ajmal, W Riaz.

Pitch and Conditions: The pitches in this series, on the contrary to those in the test matches have been very placid and not favouring spinners much. This wicket might not be any different for this dead rubber.

Match Prediction: England will complete a well deserved clean sweep with yet another thumping win.