Series conceded, Australia look to salvage pride

Overview

England v Australia
Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street
4th ODI
Thursday 21 June, 14:00 local, 13:00 GMT

Just two days after England posted a record one-day international total of 481/6 against Australia at Trent Bridge, the visitors will have to pull themselves together and line up at the Riverside Ground for the fourth ODI.

The series has been conceded, their bowlers have been punished, and Australia are now No.6 on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI rankings – they will somehow have to forget all this and fight back in the two matches remaining in the five-match series.

Australia have plenty to do, though. On Tuesday, England never stepped off the pedal, with all of Jason Roy, Johnny Bairstow, Alex Hales and Eoin Morgan running riot. Australia had used as many as eight bowlers within just 27 overs, but each of them were punished. Then, the visitors’ deflated batsmen never really managed to replicate their English counterparts, and they went down by a whopping 242 runs.

It was Australia’s eighth defeat in nine ODIs against England, and their fourth successive ODI series loss. It will, surely, be a tough ask to come back from a loss as big as this, but Australia will need to take solace in the positives.

A good place to start is with the bowlers’ performance in the first ODI, when they kept Australia in a low-scoring thriller before England came away with a three-wicket win. They have lost their way since, conceding 342/8 and the record 481/6, but Australia’s bowlers can take heart from the way they bowled at the Oval. More of the same is desperately needed.

England, meanwhile, have been ruthless and will want nothing less than 5-0 win. Their batsmen have been relentless, and the bowlers, led by Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, have made life considerably miserable for the Australians. The duo has so far picked up a combined 17 wickets in the three games, and have done an excellent job to stymie the visitors in the middle overs.

Ahead of the fourth ODI, England called up Sam Curran and Craig Overton to the squad for the final two ODIs. They will provide additional pace-bowling options, and will be in line for selection come Thursday.

As for the batting, almost every England batsman has hit a half-century in the three matches so far. With India slated to visit in a few weeks, the signs are good for the hosts.

https://twitter.com/ICC/status/1009284494120112128?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwKey Players

Alex Hales (England): Before the third ODI, the England No.3 had admitted he felt the need to score big runs to keep his place in the team. He promptly went big at his home ground, smoking a 92-ball 147 to deflate Australia. However, he knows all too well that when Ben Stokes returns from injury, he is likely to face a fight to keep his place. He will need to continue scoring big to avoid that.

Jhye Richardson (Australia): Despite going for 92 runs at Trent Bridge, the medium pacer still looked like the visitors’ best bowler. After being carted up front, he came back in the death overs and stuck to a plan, mixing his slower balls and yorkers to good effect, and picked up three wickets. He will want more of that.

Conditions:

The last ODI played here was back in 2015, when England got the better of New Zealand in a rain-affected game. Rain is forecast again now, but it’s not expected to disrupt the whole match. If history suggests anything, the surface at Chester-le-Street is going to be a belter yet again.

Squads

England: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey, Mark Wood, Sam Curran, Craig Overton

Australia: Tim Paine (c, wk), Aaron Finch, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye