We have already witnessed a blockbuster rivalry during one edge-of-a-seat game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground played between India & Pakistan. Though it is labelled as the biggest rivalry, most of it comes due to the geopolitical tensions between the two neighbouring nations. Among the rivalries that have been born and developed solely due to cricket, no rivalry comes even close to the one between England & Australia. On a Friday night with weekend blues floating all around, this rivalry shall unfold one more time at the biggest of stages.
Overview
Australia: After receiving a drubbing by another of their rivals in the famous Trans-Tasman rivalry, the hosts defeated Sri Lanka and now they would like to get their campaign back at full throttle by defeating the hot favorites, England which going later into the tournament may act as the deciding factor for them in finishing at the top two positions in the group.
Adam Zampa has recovered from COVID-19 and is expected to be slotted back into the XI in place of Ashton Agar. Matthew Wade has tested positive for COVID-19 but with his physical condition being good, he is still expected to feature in the XI as the new ICC norms allow a player with COVID-19 to feature in a game.
England: Predicted by many to win every single game in the Super 12, the English were left bruised by an underdog Irish side who got the better of them in a rain-curtailed game pretty early in the tournament. They would want to beat the hosts and hence pass a statement to the other sides to still be wary of them.
They are expected to walk in with the same XI.
Probable Playing XI
Australia: Aaron Finch (C), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (WK), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
England: Jos Buttler (C & WK), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
Pitch & Weather Report
According to weather reports, the temperature of Melbourne city of Australia on October 28 (Friday) will be 13° Celcius during the day and fall to 10° Celcius at night. The sky will be cloudy and showers are expected throughout the day.
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Date & Time: Oct 28th at 1:30 PM IST and local time 07:00 PM AEDT
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar
Interesting Facts
- Australia and England have faced each other in 23 matches in T20Is. Out of these 23 games, Australia has won 10 whereas England came out victorious on 11 occasions while 2 matches ended without a result.
- In the last 8 matches, Australia won 1 while England won 6. One match got washed out.
- In the last 4 bilateral series between these two, Australia lost all 4.
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