England won an important match at Old Trafford to keep the series alive. With Australian squad wrecked by injuries and exhausted by a largely disappointing tour, England have fresher players and would be fancying their chances. Australia have a new captain in Steve Smith and he will want to have a winning start to what promises to be a really lengthy reign at the top, so one may still expect one last hurrah from the Aussies.
England’s ODI team is completely different from the Test side, except for a few important players such as Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali who feature in both. Otherwise, England are a team of youngsters led by a dynamic young captain, Eoin Morgan. Morgan is also England’s most important ODI batsman and he has recovered his batting form just in time.
The match will be played at Headingley, which is the home of the current English County Champions Yorkshire. Yorkshire has emerged as the powerhouse of English cricket and so we expect a lot of support for the home team here, especially given that practically half of England team consists of Yorkshire players. Headingley is expected to be full and make a real noise, not different from what you get in the subcontinent.
England would be excited by the emergence of the two spin bowling allrounders, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid. The duo won the last match for England with their tight bowling and are expected to contribute with the bat as well.
Rashid explained his role in the current England set-up: “Before I came into this one-day series I had a clear mindset of what my role is in the team and what I’m looking to do,” Rashid said. “It’s a bit of a risk but my aim is to create chances, sometimes I might get hit for a few, sometimes I might get wickets but that’s the risk I take.
“It’s different set up from when I first came in, a whole different environment, my mindset is a lot clearer, the coaches, the captain, the mindset of the team is a lot clearer.”
For England, Chris Woakes will miss out due to a thigh injury, and David Willey is expected to replace him in the side, largely because of the fact that he bowls left-arm fast. Mark Wood and Reece Topley are the other fast-bowling options in the English squad.
Australia’s premier fast bowler Mitchell Starc will miss out and get a much needed rest after having played non-stop for over a year for his country. Pat Cummins is expected to be the strike bowler for Australia and he hit a speed of 96 mph in the last match, which would make him the fastest bowler in the world. If he stays injury free, Australia have a real gem on their hands.
The Teams
England: 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 James Taylor, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Adil Rashid, 9 David Willey, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 Steven Finn
Australia: 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Joe Burns, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 George Bailey, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Ashton Agar, 9 John Hastings, 10 James Pattinson, 11 Pat Cummins.
Match Conditions
The Headingley track is a great surface for batting and with the forecast being good, we should have a batting fest later today. If anything, cloudy conditions would help the seamers and make the match more interesting.
Watch England take on Australia in the crucial 4th ODI at 6:30 PM live on Star Sports.
