ICC World Cup 2019: Match 32, England vs Australia, Preview – Confident Australia aim a shot in arm of arch-rivals England

This is just a perfect setup for an England-Australia game. With the Ashes coming up after this World Cup, this should be one heck of a contest at the Mecca of cricket, with tempers flaring on both sides and the fans too will give some of the Aussie cricketers a hard time, especially the two of them (Warner and Smith).

Flamboyant, flashy and frantic – This game has all the ingredients in itself to be one of the best of the tournament and a defeat for either side could put them in a slightly precarious situation. England, having lost two games already, do not want to open the table up by losing a third and Australia will be on level terms with England if they lose this one.

It will come in as a huge surprise if either of these sides fails to make it to the knockouts, but the hosts’ road has three huge obstacles in Australia, India and New Zealand. This is a true test of character and grit for Eoin Morgan, who worked prolifically hard to make this side in the last four years.

Playing Combinations

England

The management is not willing to take a risk with Jason Roy’s fitness, which will keep James Vince in the starting XI for another game. Mark Wood and Jofra Archer have been very impressive among the fast bowlers and will face their toughest test in this fixture. Jonny Bairstow is due a big score and will be in focus in the batting department alongside Jos Buttler. Stokes and Moeen Ali will be the all-round options as usual.

Probable XI

James Vince, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (C), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood

Australia

The five-time champions will be heading unchanged into this fixture. Usman Khawaja and Glenn Maxwell spent some crucial time in the middle and their openers have been in devastating touch, much to the disappointment of their opponents. Adam Zampa will have to be careful against this English batting lineup. Pat Cummins, Coulter-Nile and Mitchell Starc will be forming the 3-man pace attack with Stoinis and Maxwell being the other options.

Probabe XI

David Warner, Aaron Finch (C), Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

Focus will be on

Jos Buttler (England)

Jos Buttler has been England’s best-limited overs player in these few years, also earning the tag as the best finisher in ODIs with MS Dhoni’s slump in form. The 28-year-old scored just 197 runs in six innings, out of which one score is a 103 against Pakistan. He has not been at his best thus far, but scoring big against Australia can always make up for the previous bad work.

David Warner (Australia)

It’s hard to take our eyes of this man when he’s batting so smoothly. David Warner is in outstanding form ever since he made his comeback from suspension and although his strike-rate has been below par, he is well aware of what he’s doing. The southpaw will find it difficult to cope with the environment on Tuesday, but he has enough experience and composure to overcome it.

Head to head

Matches played – 147 | Australia won – 81 | England won – 61 | Tied – 2 | No Result – 3

Stat Attack

10 – England won 10 of their previous 11 meetings in ODIs against the Aussies.

100 – This will be Moeen Ali’s 100th ODI for the English.

Broadcast Details

TV – Star Sports

Online– Hotstar

Match Timings – 18:00 IST; 13:30 local