FE Today Logo

England eye final berth, meet arch-rivals Australia today

Rain may play role


July 11, 2019 00:00:00


BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom, July 10 (Agencies): For England to advance to the Cricket World Cup final in front of its own fans, Australia must do something it has never done before in seven previous semifinals at the tournament.

Five-time champions Australia and six-time semifinalist England meet Thursday at Edgbaston at 3.30 pm BdST.

England, after two back-to-back victories over India and New Zealand in league stage matches, are gearing up to face arch-rivals Australia.

In the league stage match, Australia had comfortably thumped England by 64 runs at the Lord's on June 25. Chasing 286, none of the England batsmen could score big and the team was eventually bundled out for 221. However, England's confidence boosted after the return of opener Jason Roy and they played stupendous cricket, the way they began their World Cup campaign, later on.

England's woeful first-round exit at the 2015 edition prompted a complete rethink of their approach to one-day internationals for a side that had long placed Test success above all other considerations.

Just to be in with a sniff of the final is an achievement of sorts for England, which had to win its last two games against Virat Kohli's India - at Edgbaston, where England likes to play - and 2015 finalist New Zealand to guarantee its first semifinal spot since 1992.

England are playing its sixth semifinal, losing in 1975 and 1983 when it hosted the tournament. England reached the final in 1979 - when it also hosted - 1987 and 1992, losing to West Indies, Australia and Pakistan, respectively.

But England fans and players expect much more this time round from the top-ranked one-day outfit which was rebuilt in exhilarating style after a humiliating group-stage exit at the 2015 tournament.

Australia won the tournament in 1987, '99, 2003, '07 and '15. It was the first team to qualify for this edition's semifinals but finished second to India after losing to South Africa in its last match.

Australian coach Trevor Bayliss was drafted in with the aim of guiding their bid for a first World Cup title.

The transformation has been impressive, with England climbing to number one in the ODI rankings under the astute captaincy of Eoin Morgan.

Their rise to the summit has been based on dynamic run-scoring, with in-form openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow leading the way.

Satellite subscription host broadcaster Sky has said it will allow the final to be shown on free-to-air television in Britain -- but only if England are involved in the showpiece match.

It would be the first time since 2005 that a major England men's home match had emerged from behind a UK television paywall, with cricket having a chance to reconnect with a 'lost' audience in its birthplace.

Australia, however, have never lost any of their seven previous World Cup semi-finals -- although they did tie with South Africa at Edgbaston 20 years ago before advancing into the final on superior net run-rate.

Five-time world champions Australia will pitch late call-up Peter Handscomb straight into Thursday's match after fellow batsman Usman Khawaja suffered a tournament-ending hamstring injury against South Africa.

England may have won 10 out of their last 12 meetings against Australia but they know well that the piece of statistic counts for little heading into the semifinal, especially after the Eoin Morgan-led side's 64-loss to them in the league stage.

Australia and England have faced each other in 8 matches in ICC Cricket World Cup tournaments. Out of these 8 games, Australia have won 6 whereas England have come out victorious on 2 occasions.

Meanwhile, rain might also play a role in the Australia vs England semi-final 2 clash at Edgbaston. According to AccuWeather, the sky will remain partly cloudy around toss time with precipitation at zero per cent.

The sky will get more cloudy later in the day from 6:00pm BdST to 12:00pm BdST with precipitation at 5 per cent.

However, showers are in the forecast after 12:00pm BdST in Birmingham with rain chances at 46 per cent.

Overall, the weather is expected to remain cloudy throughout.

Squads: Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa (Standby players: Matthew Wade, Mitchell Marsh)

England: Eoin Morgan (captain), 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.


Share if you like