The World Champion England lock horns with Australia in the opening clash of the 3-matches ODI series at Manchester on Friday.
Team Preview
The World Cup winner England will have their second assignment in ICC CWC ODI Super League against Australia at Manchester. The Morgan-led side hasn’t appeared much in ODIs after winning the WC title at Lord’s last year. England started their ODI League preparation with defeating Ireland 2-1 as they were outplayed by Paul Sterling and Balbirnie’s fabulous chase in the last ODI. Australia, who lost the semifinal against Hosts in last year’s WC, will start their first ODI series under ICC’s new World Cup qualification system.
Both sides had a thrilling T20I series, winning by England 2-1. Australia got the moral victory in the final game to find some positives ahead of the ODI series. Australia’s ODI performance has been poor since World Cup 2019, losing the series against India (2-1) and South Africa (3-0). They have won only two games in ODI this year, the most recent came in Sydney against New Zealand before COVID-19 hit the world.
Marnus Labuschagne will be back in the middle-order who scored his maiden ton in South Africa and impressed since his ODI debut. It would be the only change in the Aussie squad. England have also called up Jason Roy in the ODI side and he might open with Bairstow, which means Banton will be rested. Joe Root, who had performed very well in T20 Blast, will also join the squad. Sam Billings’ availability is in doubt after Buttler’s comeback. Billings was the top-scorer in the Ireland series. Australia is a compact ODI side and after spending two weeks in England, they can surprise the number one ODI side on their day. The toss will be important and it would be a cracking game of cricket.
Pitch Report
The Old Trafford is a decent ODI surface and the conditions are pretty good for batting. Both sides can easily get 270-300. Spinners might play a key role in middle-overs. They can control runs and give breakthroughs. The weather is pretty cloudy in Manchester on Friday, a perfect ODI condition.
Possible XI
England
Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton/Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (C), Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood/Tom Curran
Australia
Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Alex Carey (wk), Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis/Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson/Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa
Key Players
England
Jonny Bairstow
Last 10 ODIs: Runs: 437, Avg: 48.55
Adil Rashid
Last 8 ODIs: Wickets: 12, SR: 4.85
Australia
Steve Smith
Last 5 ODIs: Runs: 254, Avg: 50.80
Marnus Labuschagne
Last 5 ODIs: Runs: 259, Avg: 51.80
