ENG vs AUS 2018, 4th ODI - Depleted Australia Play for Pride against England Juggernauts

England will square off with Australia in the fourth ODI at Riverside Ground, Chester le Street on Thursday. The hosts have already taken an impregnable lead of 3-0. However, they would not like to show any respite to their arch-rivals.

On the other hand, Australia will seek some redemption. Even though the two remaining matches are dead rubbers, the visitors will have everything to play for.

Trent Bridge was a torture for the Australian bowlers. Thus, they would like to bounce back strong. Such an ignominious defeat can lower the shoulders of any team. Consequently, Tim Paine and Justin Langer will have their work cut out to lift the morale of the team.

Australian cricket is in the rebuilding process after the ball-tampering scandal. Therefore, it would be interesting to note how they rise from the Ashes.

In fact, it is well said by former Tennis legend Martina Navratilova that “It is not about how good you play when you are playing well. However, it is about how well you play when you aren’t playing well”.

On the other hand, England team is playing their best white-ball cricket. Eoin Morgan-led team has borne fruits for playing ruthless cricket.

Thus, the English team has ticked the right boxes, and they would like to keep building the good habits of winning. Their batting line-up is a force to reckon with. Therefore, Australian bowlers will have to come up with better ideas. Most importantly, they should execute their plans to perfection.

England spin duo of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid has continued to breathe down the neck of the tourist’s batsmen. Both the spinners have scalped 17 wickets between them in the three One-Dayers. Ergo, they will like to keep their good show going. Moreover, England has roped in Sam Curran and Craig Overton for the last two matches. With series already in the bag, the hosts will look to give its youngster the imperative game time before the World Cup.

Meanwhile, Australia also dearly missed the services of their talismanic bowlers in Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins. Thus, the Australian team management will think about getting their linchpins in the limited-overs form.

England Predicted Playing XI: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, David Willey, Mark Wood.

Australia Predicted Playing XI: Travis Head, D Arcy Short, Shaun Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Finch, Tim Paine (c and wk), Glenn Maxwell, Nathan Lyon, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Andrew Tye.

Form Guide (last five matches)

England: WWWLW

Australia: LLLLW

Pitch Conditions: Riverside ground will provide more assistance to the fast bowlers. It was a torture for the Australian bowlers in Trent Bridge. Thus, the visitors will seem some aid from the track.

Stats 

Australia has won just twice in 16 ODIs since the Champions Trophy in 2017 – a win-loss ratio that is the worst for any ODI team in the past 12 months.

Jonny Bairstow had already scored four centuries in this calendar year. The England opener has equalled David Gower record which the latter achieved in 1983.

Andrew Tye went for 100 runs in the nine overs in the previous match. Tye economy rate is 7.96 in the series which is the most for any Australian bowler who has bowled more than 20 overs in the series.