England vs Australia 2020, 3rd T20I: Preview, Live Streaming, Timings, Predicted XI, Stats, Pitch Report & more

The rumpus around the series of Australia and England before the commencement was high, and why not? It always has been so. The two teams are separated by only 1 rank in the enigmatic system of ICC T20 rankings. With the series captured by England already, the third match might seem to be a dead rubber, but it is not, for it is this very rank that is on stake and on the verge of interchange should England whitewash Australia.

Australia’s resumption in cricket could have been a much happier tale had they been able to capitalise on the many chances they either got or created and let go. When David Warner and Aaron Finch came out to chase in the first game, it never looked as if they took an off. Australia reached to a touching distance of victory and then denied itself what should have been a lead of 1-0.

However, the second game was a tale of deterioration of Australia after a competitive performance in the first. Skipper Finch’s call of opting to bat first made sense in the first instance, as the same track was being used as the series opener. Although the only prudent decision that was taken by him backfired, while the other calls, well, were tactically both strange and feeble.

Adding to their woes, Jofra Archer wreaked havoc straight up as he bounced the daylights out of Warner in the first couple of deliveries. And Warner could only survive and tolerate that much. His wicket opened the floodgates, and after choosing to bat first, Australia were only seen bandaging the wounds given to it by Archer and Mark Wood the entire while. Miseries were no less when Smith attempted a suicidal single and took on the agilest fielder: Eoin Morgan.

Once reeling at 30 for 3, the tourists were taken to 157 courtesy Finch and Marcus Stoinis’ mature alliance, however, Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan’s antics proved too good for them. Australia could have backed itself by the fact that they allowed the tourists to defend a 162 in the last game, but the Aussie bowlers lacked the zing to pull off something like that.

England has taken the series already and will be certainly in the mood to displace their arch-rivals from the summit in the rankings as well as provide them a grand “whitewash” welcome before heading into the ODI series.

Pitch and Conditions

With the same track being used for the third straight game, the news for the batsmen is not too good. As was evident in the last game, the track was a touch drier than the first game and was slightly towards the slower side. Australians found it difficult to middle the ball as well, whereas from England too, only Jos Buttler looked in complete control. With no expectation of rain, a full game is up for the taking.

Playing Combination

England

As Jos Buttler has excused himself citing family reasons, the opening job should go to Tom Banton alongside Jonny Bairstow. Though Buttler’s absence is bad news for England, Banton and Dawid Malan- who is certain at No. 3, will be able to breathe slightly easy. It remains to be seen whether Eoin Morgan has done enough damage to his finger to miss a game or not, though, in his absence, Sam Billings is going to be England’s best bet in the middle-order.

With a chance to whitewash Australia and take away the No. 1 spot to their u, England might not want to tamper with the playing eleven too much. That said, they might future-plan a bit and try giving a run to Sam Curran before the ODI series gets underway. The bowling unit is expected to remain the same.

Predicted XI- Tom Banton, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Dawid Malan, Sam Billings, Sam Curran/Eoin Morgan (C), Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Tom Curran, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid

Australia

With the scare of a whitewash looming over their head, Australia would not look to make too many changes in their eleven. And though they have lost both the games, it cannot be denied that the current eleven looks to quite an ideal one for Australia. A couple of men who might be axed are Alex Carey and Adam Zampa. The former was promoted at No. 3 in the last game, though all he managed was a faint nick with the bat, whereas Zampa has now had two disastrous outings in a row.

David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell look set as top four while Carey’s replacement can be Matthew Wade, although he has not kept wickets for ages. Further, Josh Hazlewood might be given a go either for Kane Richardson or Mitchell Starc.

Predicted XI- David Warner, Aaron Finch (C), Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (WK), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, 2 of Mitchell Starc/Kane Richardson/Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon/Adam Zampa

Stat Attack

Three more wickets for Chris Jordan (63) will take him past Stuart Broad (65) – the leading wicket-taker for England in T20Is.

Head to Head

Matches Played- 19 | England Won- 11 | Australia Won- 6 | NR/Abandoned- 2

Broadcast Details

Match Timings- 10:30 PM (IST), 6:00 PM (local).

TV– Sony Six, Sony Six HD

Live Streaming– The match can be streamed online on Sony Liv and Airtel stream