LONDON, June 24 (Agencies): England and Australia meet in a World Cup group clash at Lord's on Tuesday, with the home side looking to bounce back from their surprise 20-run loss to Sri Lanka.
History is against them, however, with Australia having won five of the previous seven World Cup encounters between the arch-rivals.
England's World Cup 2019 campaign has not turned out as good as many predicted before the start of the tournament.
The World Cup 2019 hosts registered their first loss in the tournament against Pakistan before facing a reality check at the hands of Sri Lanka. England now find themselves in a must-win situation.
Bidding to win the World Cup for the first time, England cannot afford many more slip-ups in their remaining league fixtures against fellow title contenders Australia, India and New Zealand -- teams they have not defeated at a World Cup since 1992.
Tuesday's match at Lord's was always going to be a showpiece occasion, but it has been given added spice by England's 20-run loss to Sri Lanka. Despite their second defeat of the pool phase following an earlier loss to Pakistan, the tournament hosts remained in the top four and on course for a semi-final spot.
England's problems have been compounded by the absence of Jason Roy from their past two matches, with a torn hamstring threatening to sideline the in-form opener from the Australia clash as well.
By contrast, Australia have been buoyed by the productive opening partnership between captain Aaron Finch and David Warner and are second in the table after five wins from six matches.
Mitchell Starc is the joint-leading wicket-taker at the World Cup -- his tally of 15 putting him level with fellow pacemen Jofra Archer (England) and Mohammad Amir (Pakistan) -- but Australia's bowling in support of the left-armer has looked vulnerable.
Squads: England: Eoin Morgan (capt), James Vince, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson.
Australia: Aaron Finch (capt), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Marcus Stoinis, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
