AUSTRALIA: The final game of Australia vs England is to be held today and as far as the series is concerned, the game is a dead game. However, there is always room for learning and improving in cricket, Australia will be looking to do the same, learn and apply.
Although momentum and confidence are somewhat related, momentum is largely meaningless in professional sports if you allow yourself to live by it. Sure, winning is great, but there are instances when understanding where you went wrong is just as crucial.
Consider Aaron Finch’s direct post-game remarks in Canberra, where he attributed Australia’s eight-run loss to “sloppy” fielding, which put them 2-0 down going into what is now Friday’s dead-game encounter against England.
If Australia’s sloppy hands haven’t dropped three catches in the middle of Dawid Malan and Moeen Ali’s important 92-run stand for the fifth wicket, who knows where that momentum would be headed now? Or if Tim David had not, in the 18th over of the chase, walked across Sam Curran’s leg-stump yorker with the game at stake.
So here we are, with just over a week until the start of their respective T20 World Cup campaigns, with Australia seemingly in a scramble for their own readiness after a pair of unfortunate setbacks, and England’s rebooted white-ball team now boasting back-to-back away series wins after a blank home summer.
Players to watch out for
Jos Butler:- Butler will be hungry for runs in today’s game as he is in very good form. The English Captain starts whacking the ball early in the innings and tries to get full advantage of the power play-overs. But Butler proves to be very dangerous as he gets settled in.
Mitchell Starc:- is a good death-over bowler. He also bowls equally well in the opening overs, but T20 is the most unpredictable form of the game. It can be harsh on you sometimes, very harsh, and we saw him going for runs in the previous match. Starc will look to fine-tune his approach and try to stick to his strengths and give some early blows to the English team.
Squad Status
Australia’s starting lineup for the World Cup was usually regarded as the lineup that competed on Wednesday. They might give them another shot, but there’s also a chance they’ll switch things up again.
Australia (probable XI):- David Warner, Aaron Finch (captain), Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, and Josh Hazlewood are the team’s batting order.
It would be interesting to watch if Jordan gets another chance to recover his form on Friday as he struggles back from his long-term hand injury, especially as Mark Wood is also eager for another run before the main event. In terms of batting, Liam Livingstone must be close to returning to full health following his ankle injury. Although England originally planned to use this week’s match against Pakistan as his comeback game, there may be a temptation to test him out earlier.
England (probable XI):- Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Adil Rashid.
Also Read: England Held Their Nerve to Defeat Australia by 8 Runs in the 2nd T20I
