Old foes start World Cup campaign today

A full house crowd in excess of 90,000 is expected at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to see the old enemies start their World Cup campaigns today (Saturday) at 9.30 am (BD time).
Most will be expecting a Valentine's Day massacre. With Australia having won all three of the ODIs between the sides in the preceding tri-series, there is a sense not so much of two teams battling it out as much as one team being thrown to the lions.
Australia have won 11 of their last 12 ODIs -- including a 4-1 victory over highly-rated South Africa; they have a battling line-up that extends beyond the horizon. Their batsmen can tear apart any attack and they have two men in the top 10 of the bowling rankings. Playing in conditions in which they are familiar and suit them and cheered on by a home crowd, they remain strong favourites for this match and the tournament.
England, meanwhile, are unburdened by expectation. Having recently changed their captain, not won an ODI series for almost a year and failed to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup since 1992, little is expected of them. Their recent record against Australia in Australia -- they have lost 13 of the last 15 ODIs -- provides further evidence towards the same conclusion.
Their new look side promises to be undaunted by the cauldron in which they will start. And, if the ball swings for James Anderson, if they can somehow contain better in the last 40 overs of the opposition innings, if they get off to a good start with the bat, then perhaps they could cause a shock. But it would be a surprise if they ruined the Valentine's Day of 100,000 Australians.
Despite the big name in form of regular Aussie skipper Michael Clarke missing from the duel as a precautionary measure from his way back from hamstring surgery, the No. 1 side looks a formidable unit.
Meanwhile, England under their new captain Eoin Morgan have been even in terms of results in two warm-up games -- beating West Indies by 9 wickets while they lost to Pakistan by 4 wickets. As for Australia, they have won both their warm-up games against India and United Arab Emirates with huge margins.
Ahead of the high-profile cricket World Cup opener between the traditional rivals, stand-in-skipper of Australia George Bailey played down importance of Australia's previous success against England. The number one side followed an emphatic 4-1 series win in England last January with a tri-series victory at home this month to make it the clear favourites going into the mega-event that kicks off with a double at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Christchurch.  
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