Steve Smith says it's win or lose for Australia against England

Steven Smith-led Australia has run into some bad luck in the CT 2017, with their first two matches getting called off due to heavy showers. Australia was denied an almost-certain victory over Bangladesh at The Oval by the English weather in the previous fixture, leaving them with two points from two games. Smith was utterly frustrated after rain ruined their attempts to chase a target of less than four an over, which was set up by Mitchell Starc’s four-wicket haul that saw Bangladesh dismissed for 182 in 44.3 overs.

Also, having been saved from a potential defeat to New Zealand at Edgbaston, Australia have no option but to defeat the hosts if they have to progress in the tournament. The Aussies will take on England in their last Group A fixture on Saturday in Birmingham. Australia is currently placed at the second spot having played one extra match than both England and the Black Caps.

 A must-win against England

“We have to beat England and I think then we’re through. A little bit frustrating. Disappointing not to get a result but we can’t do much about the weather. The equation is pretty simple for us now,” speaking about the magnanimity of their upcoming fixture, Smith was quoted as saying in yesterday’s post-match conference.

“The groundsmen perhaps could have shown a bit more urgency, is a big tournament, but I think they did the best job they could and the umpires said it was an 8.30 pm start, so you’ve got to do what they say.

“Of course I didn’t want to go off, I was happy to keep batting through the rain. But the umpires are there to make a decision and I think drinks was at the end of that over, which probably didn’t help. If the game had just carried on, perhaps they may have had a different opinion. But to be fair it was raining reasonably hard when we came off.”

The computation for Bangladesh, on the other hand, is a bit simpler. They need to register a win against the Kiwis at Cardiff on Friday in their final match to stay in the hunt for a semi-final spot. A victory over New Zealand combined with a pair of England wins over Australia and New Zealand would guarantee Bangladesh a berth in the semis.