Background
There is extra tension in the 36th game of the Cricket World Cup as it’s the first meeting of Australia and England since the infamous and tense Ashes Series in England. The ‘Johnny Bairstow’ incident has been resurfaced, with Joe Root saying that "Man for man, I'd have this team every day over the Australians," catching everyone by surprise. It’s simple: if Australia win, they all but certainly book their place in the semi finals, if England win, they keep their semi finals hopes alive by the smallest of margins. If not, they can not progress any further.
Team Preview:
England
The nightmare for England continues, with their recent loss to India and Sri Lanka adding to their woes. With five losses in six matches, their hopes of retaining the World Cup are virtually gone. As things stand, England finds themselves in last position on the points table, just two points earned from their sole victory against Bangladesh.
Their batting, once considered a stronghold, has faltered, with recent totals of 129, 170 and 156 highlighting their struggles, even at venues known for batting-friendly conditions like Wankhede and Chinnaswamy. On the bowling front, it hasn’t been much better unfortunately. They have the second-worst economy rate of 6.44 in the tournament, compared to the Aussie’s of 4.30 runs per over.
For England, every upcoming match is a do-or-die situation. Any loss will spell the end of their World Cup aspirations, leaving them mathematically eliminated, which they nearly are. The upcoming clash against Australia takes on a critical significance, as a defeat would allow them to pack their bags for a quick exit on the 12th of November after their last game vs Pakistan.
Australia
Australia will start the match as clear favourites because of their position on the ladder and winning their last four games. Furthermore Australia’s dominance with their openers, Warner and Head, both scored centuries in recent games which is backed up by the middle order of Smith and Labuschange scoring big runs. However, there is concern with Mitch Marsh and Glenn Maxwell missing the game, which means they’ll have to be replaced most likely by Cameron Green and Marcus Stoinis. David Warner is the tournaments 3rd highest run scorer with 413 runs and Adam Zampa is equally 2nd with 16 wickets.
After an unexpected start to their World Cup campaign, the Australians are on track to comfortably finish in the top four. The teams just needs to win two of their remaining three group stage matches to progress through to the semi-finals, as long as they keep their net run rate above Afghanistan. Even one victory could be enough pending other results.
Match Prediction:
All of the stats and recent form say that Australia will comfortably win, however, losing Maxwell and Marsh and being the first game post Ashes series, I feel as if the game will be closer than what we all think, Australia will win, but will be a cracking game!
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