Daily Times

Hosts England have made life hard for themselves in the ICC World Cup 2019 after two uncharacteristic losses to Asian sides Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The No. 1-ranked ODI side in the world are now in danger of an early exit if they don’t win at least two of their remaining three games, starting with the match against traditional rivals Australia at the Lord’s on Tuesday (today). England’s three remaining games are against Australia, New Zealand and India – three sides they have not beaten in the World Cup in the last 27 years. Eoin Morgan’s side though won’t care much about that stat because they would know that this English ODI side is a refreshing change from the one which has been struggling for the last two decades.

That doesn’t mean the task would be any easy against the defending World champions Australia, who have been on a roll after losing the three-match ODI series to India at home. The return of David Warner and Steve Smith from their one-year ban for ball-tampering has only boosted the strength of the Australians. Warner, in fact, is the leading run-scorer for Australia so far with 447 runs in six games with two centuries and two fifties. The only blemish on their perfect record so far was the loss at the hands of India. Since their early exit from the 2015 World Cup, England have risen to the top of the world rankings in ODI and twice posted massive totals in excess of 400 – including 481/6 against Australia. Even in this World Cup, the English batsmen have helped their side cross the 300-run mark regularly but it was a surprise for them not to overhaul a 232-run target against Sri Lanka at Headingley.

Opener Jason Roy and his aggressive strokeplay was missed at the top of the order and he’s unlikely to be available against Australia as well. The 28-year-old is expected to get a second scan done on Monday (June 24) to check on his recovery progress. James Vince, his replacement, has struggled in his two outings so far with scores of 26 and 14. Much will depend on the tried and tested Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler to help the Englishmen pile on a massive total to put the game beyond Australia. England’s pace battery led by Jofra Archer (15 wickets) and Mark Wood (12 wickets) have been impressive but Australia can count on Mitchell Starc (15 wickets) and Pat Cummins (11 wickets) to fight fire with fire.

For the time being, cricket fans in London, can look forward to a sneak peek at the Ashes before the real deal later this year. The World Cup has been a roller-coaster ride for the Englishmen. A 14-run loss against England was followed by three impressive wins over Bangladesh, West Indies and Afghanistan but the 20-run loss to Sri Lanka in their last game has been things tough for the hosts. A 36-run loss to India has been their only loss in the World Cup so far. Aaron Finch has not allowed the India defeat to slow down the side. The defending champions have bounced back with wins over Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Players to watch out for:

England: Jofra Archer: The Barbados-born all-rounder only became eligible to play for England just before the World Cup. A late addition to the England World Cup squad, Archer is now the leading wicket-taker for his side with 15 scalps at an average of 17.93. Bowling at over 90 mph in tandem with Mark Wood, Archer will be looking to hustle the in-form Australian batsmen.

Australia: Aaron Finch: His opening partner Warner might be leading the run-scoring charts for the side but the Australian skipper is not far behind either. Finch has also tallied 396 runs in six games with one century and three fifties. Finch would have fond memories of World Cup game against England after his 135 set up his side’s win over the same opponents back in 2015 edition.

Squads:

England: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon.

Match starts at 2:30 PM (PST)