Pakistan to target India 'underbelly': Arthur

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur says his bowlers have "no option" but to attack India's in-form top order to give themselves the best chance of winning the ICC Champions Trophy final on Sunday.

The tournament decider will bring together the best batting side from the past two-and-a-half weeks and a Pakistan bowling attack that has restricted each of South Africa, Sri Lanka and England to totals under 240 to earn a surprise spot in the final.

Quick Single: Rewind to the original India-Pakistan final

India have cruised into the decider thanks largely to the dominance of their top three batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli, who have all scored more than 250 runs each in four matches.

But the trio's strong form has meant the middle order of Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Yadhav, MS Dhoni and Hardyik Pandya have barely been required throughout the tournament; that quartet have added a combined total of just 200 runs from seven innings compared to the 874 runs scored by the top three.

And Arthur says his side will be in with a huge chance of winning if their in-form bowlers can strike with the new balls and expose the middle order early in the innings.

"We have to (attack), we've got no option," Arthur told cricket.com.au.

"We've got to try and make that new ball really work for us. We've got to try and get into them.

"That middle order haven't had massive hits, they haven't batted much under pressure of late. So we've got to try and put them under extreme pressure particularly by knocking their top order over.

"If we can do that, we've got a real chance of getting to their underbelly."

The surprising absence of new-ball swing throughout this tournament will likely make Pakistan's task of early strikes difficult, especially on a surface at The Oval that is traditionally favourable to batting and has hosted two 600-plus run matches already in the tournament.

And as Arthur himself acknowledges, his bowlers have been at their most effective during the middle and late overs of an innings rather than early on.

Quick Single: Biggest battle set for final, says Sangakkara

Sixteen of the 28 wickets Pakistan have taken in their past three wins have come in the second Power Play between the 10th and 40th overs of an innings, a time traditionally dominated by batsmen who are willing and able to bat conservatively and wait for a late assault in the final 10 overs.

But the work of pace spearheads Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan and Mohammad Amir, as well as frugal spinners Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim and Mohammad Hafeez, has allowed the Pakistanis to build pressure and strike prolifically in the middle overs.

"Tactically we'd always spoken about our guys wanting to express themselves with the ball and wanting to attack," Arthur says.

"(The second Power Play) historically has been a bit of a dead period where you're just trying to squeeze and contain the opposition.

"But what happens is you just allow the opposition to play, they keep so many wickets in hand that scores are getting too big at the back end.

"So we decided that we really wanted to attack those overs. That for us was key and we gave our bowlers the freedom to do that. We've got the ball to reverse swing, which is good for us because that's a massive weapon."

And the coach has praised rookie captain Sarfraz Ahmed, who during this tournament has doubled his tally of matches as skipper from four to eight, for backing his bowlers.

"Our execution has been great and we've attacked," Arthur says. "The captain has kept slips and put catchers in attacking positions and it's worked for us.

"He's very positive. He's an aggressive captain and he wants to take wickets.

"That's how we want to play and I think that's how you have to play one-day cricket now. He encapsulates all that."

Champions Trophy 2017 Guide

Squads: Every Champions Trophy nation

Schedule

1 June – England beat Bangladesh by eight wickets

2 June – New Zealand v Australia, No Result

3 June – Sri Lanka lost to South Africa by 96 runs

4 June – India beat Pakistan by 124 runs

5 June – Australia v Bangladesh, No Result

6 June – England beat New Zealand by 87 runs

7 June – Pakistan beat South Africa by 19 runs (DLS method)

8 June – Sri Lanka beat India by seven wickets

9 June – Bangladesh beat New Zealand by five wickets

10 June – England beat Australia by 40 runs (DLS method)

11 June – India beat South Africa by eight wickets

12 June – Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by three wickets

14 June – First semi-final: England lost to Pakistan by eight wkts

15 June – Second semi-final: Bangladesh lost to India by nine wickets

18 June – Final: Pakistan v India, The Oval (D)

19 June – Reserve day (D)