ICC World Cup 2019: Match 32, England vs Australia – Match Preview

Australia and England will resume their age-old rivalry when they go up against each other in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2019 on June 25 (Tuesday) at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. While the Aussies are currently at 10 points with one loss, the hosts have suffered two defeats.

England are fresh from a humiliating defeat against Sri Lanka. The hosts, who came into the tournament as the favourites, now enter the toughest phase of their World Cup with three difficult matches, starting with the one against Australia, needing a win. To add to their woes is the unavailability of Jason Roy, who has been sidelined due to a hamstring injury. The top-ranked ODI side will have to pull up their socks and play the cricket they have been playing in the last four years to beat the defending champions.

Read More: ICC World Cup 2019: Match 33, New Zealand vs Pakistan – Pakistan’s Predicted Playing XI

Also read: ICC World Cup 2019: Last Sunday I Wanted To Commit Suicide – Mickey Arthur

On the other hand, Australia will be high on confidence after their exceptional show from their openers – Aaron Finch and David Warner. The bowling has also been in good stead with strike bowlers – Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins among the wickets. The presence of all-rounders Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis – returned from injury in the last game, will add balance to the side. However, the middle-order is yet to face a stiff challenge, and an all-round England attack will look to target that at Lord’s.

Date and Venue: England vs Australia, June 25 (Tuesday) at 3:00 PM IST, at Lord’s in London

Also read: Shakib Al Hasan Achieves Rare Double, Replicates Yuvraj Singh’s Incredible Feat

Predicted XI:

Australia: Aaron Finch (capt), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

England: Jonny Bairstow, James Vince, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood

World Cup Head to Head

Also read: ICC World Cup 2019: Watch – Arjun Tendulkar Helps England Prepare During Practice Session

Statistical Preview

i) Joe Root (13,302 runs) needs to score 30 more runs to become the third most international run-scorer as an England batsman. At present, only Alastair Cook (15,737 runs), Kevin Pietersen (13,779 runs) and Ian Bell (13,331 runs) are ahead of Root in this list.

Also read: I Will Do My Best To Support Cricket In Canada – Yuvraj Singh

ii) Jos Buttler (901 runs) is 99 runs away to become the fourth English batsman to score 1,000 ODI runs against Australia.

iii) Eoin Morgan (3,949 runs) is 51 runs away to become the first England ODI captain to score 4,000 runs.

iv) Leg-spinner Adil Rashid (35 wickets) needs to take four more wickets to become the most ODI wicket-taker for England against Australia. At present, he is the joint most wicket-taker in this list along with Ian Botham (35 wickets). Only James Anderson is ahead of them in this list with 38 ODI wickets against Australia.

vi) David Warner (12,945 runs) is 55 runs away to complete his 13,000 international runs. He will be the ninth Australian batsman to score 13,000 international runs.

Read More: Blow For England As Jofra Archer Doubtful For Australia Clash

vii) Marcus Stoinis (999 runs) is one run away to complete his 1,000 ODI runs.

viii) Aaron Finch (396 runs) needs to score three more runs to become the second most run-scorer as an Australian captain in Cricket World Cup history. While he will surpass Steve Waugh (398 runs) in this list, only Ricky Ponting will remain ahead of Finch with 1,160 World Cup runs.

Also read: ICC World Cup 2019: Jonny Bairstow Feels Asking Fans Not To Boo Is Meaningless

Pitch Conditions

The pitch for Tuesday’s contest has a distinctly green tinge at this late stage of its preparation, and while it may be dry underneath. The last game at Lord’s between Pakistan and South Africa had something for everybody. It will be an intense clash the historic stadium with the extra tinge green assisting the pacers.

Weather Forecast

London’s forecast is for warm temperatures and scattered showers across the day. The temperature will be hovering around 23-25 degrees Celsius with very little wind making it tough for the players. The small spells of showers will keep both England and Australia on their feet.

Match Prediction

Australia will be coming to this game ahead in the head to head count with 81 wins to England’s 61. However, the hosts have had the edge over the Aussies in recent times, having won nine of the last ten games against them. Stakes will be high for England and Australia as they look to continue their dominance in the World Cup. An exciting encounter is on the cards for the fans on Tuesday.

Despite the five times World Champions going down against the host in recent times, they have a habit of bringing out their best in tough situations which will give them a slight edge at the start of the game.