The 26th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will pit two cricketing titans from Group 1 against one other. England will be hoping to ride the momentum after their dominating wins over West Indies and Bangladesh, whereas the Australian side will hoping to defeat their rivals, The number 1 T20 England, and climb to the number 1 position in group 1. Both teams are undefeated and among the top two of Group 1.
Head to Head
Australia and England have played 19 Twenty20 Internationals, with Australia winning ten and England winning eight. The record in two T20 World Cup matches is one win each. The last time these two countries met at a T20 World Cup was in 2010 when England won the final.
Key batters to watch out for
Key Bowlers to watch out for
What to expect
Australia may perhaps be the more battle-tested of the two sides. Eoin Morgan was keen to emphasize that his side’s two comfortable victories were due to the pressure England applied on the West Indies and Bangladesh, and although this is undeniably true, they were rarely stretched. Australia, on the other hand, had to work hard to overcome South Africa, and they had their moments with the bat as well in the Sri Lanka game, forcing Australia to respond. England has not been challenged at all.
The dilemma of 5th bowling option
Instead of bringing in Ashton Agar as an extra bowling option, Australia appears poised to stick with their batting-heavy strategy. England will surely target Maxwell, Stoinis, and Mitchell Marsh if they bowl. In a similar manner to Australia, England with Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone sharing the fifth bowler duties. The team that scores of this 5th bowler of either from these overs may probably be the winner of this game.
Fantasy XI: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, Mitchell Starc, Tymal Mills, Adam Zampa
Captain: Aaron Finch
The Australia captain has phenomenal T20I numbers against England, scoring 550 runs in 12 games at an average of 61.11 and a strike rate of 174.60.
Vice-captain: Jos Buttler
His last four scores against Australia are 46, 61, 44, and 77*.
Predicted playing XI
England: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Tymal Mills
Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood