Australia vs England at MCG in Melbourne: Oct 28, 2022 - Match Preview
Australia currently sit second from bottom while their opponents England sit 3rd in the Group 1 table in a turn off events which nobody would have predicted before the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 began. Australia suffered a humiliating loss to New Zealand in their first match before scraping past Sri Lanka in their second. England started with a scratchy win over Afghanistan in their first match before being caught short by the Irish in their second. This clash between Ashes rivals could well be a knock out encounter.
Warner and Finch, both look out of sorts in the World Cup so far but they only need a spark to get going. Marsh has also not found his touch at 3 which Maxi was worked over by Lahiru Kumara at Perth. If not for the 50 by Marcus Stoinis, Australia might well have been on the losing side against Sri Lanka as well. Wade was detected with Covid but he seems alright to start as per the reports.
The 3 pacers, Starc, Cummins & Hazlewood should all start even though they're not firing on all cylinders yet. Zampa missed the last game due to Covid and if he's still not recovered, Ashton Agar should continue in the XI after doing a reasonable job at Perth.
For English, Buttler and Hales are yet to fire like like their opening counterparts. Malan struggled great deal to up the tempo against Ireland and Stokes too hasn't got any fluidity in his batting right now. Harry Brook, so good in the lead up to the World Cup is finding things difficult as well. Livingstone and Moeen Ali might be batting too low right now to have any positive impact on the England batting.
On the bowling front, Mark Wood has been bowling with fire while Sam Curran looks to have found nice rhythm picking wickets at key intervals. Stokes has supported them ably but both Woakes and Rashid have been unable to get themselves in the wickets thus putting pressure on the rest of the bowling unit.
Key Battles: Australia vs England
Mark Wood vs David Warner and Aaron Finch
Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood vs Jos Buttler and Alex Hales
Ben Stokes and Sam Curran vs Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell
Both Australia and England are under tremendous pressure right now and both need a win desperately. England might walk into the clash with a little bit of optimism as they blanked Australia 2-0 right before the World Cup started. But the pressure of a big game might just bring the best out of Australia.
The most important factor in all this might be the fickle Melbourne weather which has already taken New Zealand Afghanistan game as its casualty. The weather for tomorrow doesn't look too good right now, with showers predicted for almost the entire day.
Probable Australia XI
Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa/ Ashton Agar
Probable England XI
Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Top 5 Fantasy Picks for Australia v England at MCG, Melbourne
Mitchell Starc
Josh Hazlewood
Jos Buttler
Ben Stokes
David Warner
The match will start at 01.30 PM IST (streamed live on Disney Hotstar app & on TV on Star Sports 1)
Who will come on top between these two traditional cricketing rivals? Will rain have the last laugh in Melbourne?
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