ENG vs AUS Team Previews

England

While England didn't have a great day in the field in the first ODI, they had plenty of positives to draw from the game. Bowling first, England bowlers did well to restrict the visitors on a subpar total on a good batting wicket. Spinners, in particular, were brilliant with the ball as they picked up 5 wickets among them. Moeen Ali picked up three wickets for 43 while Rashid dismissed Ashton Agar and Marcus Stoinis. Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood, and David Willey returned with three, one, and one wicket respectively.

Surprisingly, it wasn't David Willey's bowling which sealed the match. England were in a spot of bother during their chase. David Willey played a responsible knock of 35-runs to take England home. Eoin Morgan will be happy with his performance as he scored 69 runs in difficult circumstances. While the contribution from Joe Root of a steady half-century was important, the team would want him to score big instead of getting fifties.

Summing it up, England were way of the mark with their batting but still managed to seal the game. It was a brilliant bowling effort from England which was helped by some mediocre batting by the Australians. Given that the visitors didn't appear to be a hundred percent, England would have to step up their game in the coming fixture and if their batsmen can bring their 'A' game and bat the way they're known for, it's certainly going to be another hard night for the visitors.

Australia

The new-look Australian side did fairly well to drag the game to the death overs considering their first innings total. They, however, would love to iron out the wrinkles and polish their approach to play spinners.

Contrary to what was expected, the Australian bowlers bowled well to keep the home team in check. Continuing his superb IPL form, Andrew Tye was the pick of their bowlers. He picked up two wickets for 44 including the key wickets of Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler. Billy Stanlake was another bowler who impressed on a rather plain night. He returned with the figures of 2 for 44 in 10 overs.

Aaron Finch and Marcus Stonis, who batted wonderfully against Sussex, failed to fire as the duo returned to the shed with 19 and 24 against their names respectively. Glenn Maxwell's return to the form would be one positive Australia could take from this game. He scored 62 off 64 deliveries when the chips were down to stitch an important partnership with Ashton Agar. Ashton Agar scored 40 off 62 in the process.

Although the visitors might give a thought to try D'Arcy Short in the next match, it is rather unlikely. With Glenn Maxwell back in form, the Australian batting looks good enough on paper. If they can sort out their troubles against the spinners, we will certainly be in for yet another nail-biting game of Cricket.