ICC World Cup 2019: Warm-up Match 3, England vs Australia, Preview - Arch-rivals battle before things get heated up

Hands down the most coveted of all the warm-up matches, two firm favourites of the tournament, hosts England and five-time champions Australia collide in Southampton before the real party begins. The Aussies and the English played the inaugural fixture of the previous World Cup, which went very easily in favour of the Men in Yellow with current skipper, Aaron Finch, scoring a century.

Things have changed very drastically in the last four years, with the English becoming a powerhouse and the Aussies going through some self-made catastrophes. It has been a very long time since the world witnessed both these sides being on level terms in a World Cup and it would come as no surprise if the 1987 final repeats itself.

There are no odds favouring one side in this contest and it is difficult to pick one has the edge for this, it literally is a spin-of-the-coin affair. The Rose Bowl is expected to be in high attendance on a pleasant Saturday morning and although it is preparatory, both sides will be desperate to gather some momentum.

Playing combinations

England

Jofra Archer was roped into the squad in the last moments alongside Liam Dawson and James Vince. Archer will get some match practice, but Vince and Dawson might not get to bat in their favoured positions. Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes are lighting things up with their all-round shows. They will go into the game without skipper Eoin Morgan who suffered a blow during training. Chris Woakes has been bowling sensationally, which might keep Mark Wood out of the equation for the main XI.

Squad

Eoin Morgan (C), Jason Roy, Joe Root, James Vince, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (WK), Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

~ Jos Buttler is expected to lead in the absence of injured Eoin Morgan

Australia

Will Australia tinker with the currently settled opening combination is the biggest conundrum. Khawaja and Finch have been phenomenal together, but with Warner coming back in, Khawaja might have to take the number three slot. They have some five genuine pace bowlers in their 15-man squad with two spinners, it’ll be interesting to see how Finch uses them. Zampa and Lyon will get a good number of overs as well.

Who will win the match? – ICC World Cup 2019: Warm-up Match 3, England vs Australia, Match Prediction – Weather Report, Pitch Conditions, Playing XIs and Live Streaming Details

Squad

Aaron Finch (C), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (WK), Kane Richardson, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Starc, Jason Behrendorff, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon

Focus will be on

Jofra Archer (England)

One of the very few drawbacks of this strong English contingent was their death bowling potential, which looks pretty settled with the presence of Jofra Archer. Although the experience he has comes from the T20 circuit, he definitely can crank it up in the final few overs and bowl those full yorkers to great effect. We will get a glimpse of how useful he is going to be in the coming tournament.

David Warner (Australia)

Want to make a comeback, do it like David Warner! The Australian pocket-sized dynamo was scoring runs for fun in the IPL and he currently looks like the man who will lead their batting attack. Going by how the tracks have played in the last few years and also considering that he is a wounded lion seeking redemption, the stage looks all set for the 32-year-old to show why is one of the finest of this generation.

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

Broadcasting details

TV –  Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2 HD

Live stream – Hotstar