England and Australia look to continue unbeaten run
One of the biggest rivalries in cricket provides the finale to day 14 of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021.
Group 1 leaders England are the top-ranked side at the tournament and have barely broken sweat so far in their comfortable wins over West Indies and Bangladesh so far.
But Australia have the tools to trouble the current table-toppers, and have themselves picked up two wins from two at the tournament, seeing off South Africa and Sri Lanka.
In many ways this fixture is a clash of styles, with England looking to bat aggressively right through their top seven, with Australia typically playing a slightly more conservative style with the bat overall. With the ball it's almost a Test cricket pace attack on show from Australia, with the quality of the quicks intended to restrict teams rather than bamboozle them with variations.
Defeat here would draw either team back into the scrap for a second qualification place, whereas a win would put either side in a terrific position to qualify.
Fixture details
- The Match: England v Australia, Match 26
- Time: 18:00 local time, Saturday 30 October 2021
- Venue: Dubai International Stadium
England's only selection dilemma surrounds the fitness of pace bowler Mark Wood. If the Durham man is cleared fit to play then England will likely need to drop one of Dawid Malan, Chris Woakes or Chris Jordan to get him into the side.
Probable England XI: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan (captain), Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Tymal Mills
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Australia's top three have been scratchy in this format for much of the run-in to tournament, so David Warner's terrific knock against Sri Lanka came at the perfect time. If Warner and Finch fire then the make-up of the team takes on a completely different complexion.
Probable Australia XI: David Warner, Aaron Finch (captain), Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa
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Moeen Ali, England: The powerplay success of England's spin-bowling all-rounder has played a major part in their two wins to-date. But Australia's top order look well-suited on paper to taking on Moeen, and if he doesn't get through overs early on it makes things tricky for Eoin Morgan later in the innings. With the bat Moeen could play a big role in targeting Adam Zampa.
Glenn Maxwell, Australia: The Aussie power-hitter lit up the recent IPL and has the game to take down England's attack. If Maxwell gets time in the middle then Australia will fancy their chances of beating any opponent, including the world's top ranked T20I side.
Captaincy pick - Jos Buttler
England's wicket-keeper-batter has to be the top captaincy pick for this match, given his impressive record in the format in 2021. Buttler has scored 362 runs at an average of 51.7 in 10 T20I innings. He also has a good record against Australia in this format where he averages 32 in 11 innings.
Must-have - Aaron Finch
The Australian captain seems to be back in form after his brisk 37 against Sri Lanka in the last game. Against arch-rivals England, there is every chance he is going to continue the momentum given his impressive record against them in this format. He has an average of 61 in 12 T20I innings against the Englishmen, and is a must-have for your fantasy team.
Whichever team wins this match will have one foot in the semi-finals… and if it's England then make that a-foot-and-a-half due to their impressive net run rate.
West Indies, Sri Lanka and South Africa all still have a chance to deny these teams a spot in the last four, with Bangladesh effectively out of it, if not mathematically so.
Eoin Morgan:"Australia are a very strong side. Coming into the tournament, they would probably be considered joint-second favourites, along with us. They're a side that we know pretty well - we've played against them a lot over a number of years, so looking forward to a really good game."
Pat Cummins on Adam Zampa: "Adam is huge for us. I think he's one of the premier spin bowlers in the world in white-ball cricket. He's been fantastic for us for a long time.
"Just knowing in this format batters can get away, there can be a big start in the first six overs, but having especially a wrist-spinner is just hugely beneficial for us. He can take those couple of wickets, keep it tight, and then we can attack from the other end. He showed how good he is (against Sri Lanka)."
