ENG vs AUS 26th Match, Super 12 Group 1 Prediction

ENG vs AUS Team Previews

England

England had a solid win against Afghanistan, but where did things go wrong in the loss to Ireland? Cricket and Ireland aren’t two words that normally go together, but this little country was talented enough to defeat England.

That said, it was a messy game due to the rain. The match was shortened and eventually called off due to the heavy downpours, which meant that England was cut off from a victory when they were within reach. Still, you can’t blame the rain completely, as England allowed far too many runs from poor bowling.

Chris Woakes had an appalling three overs by going 0/41 and earning a shocking Economy Rate of 13.67. Mark Wood was decent at 3/34, but Adil Rashid got knocked around the ground again and again with 0/24. Even with the limited overs, it was disappointing to see Jos Buttler dismissed for a duck, especially when we know he’s capable of much more.

Ben Stokes’ eight runs and Harry Brook’s 18 runs were well short of their usual performances. Surprises are part of a T20 tournament like this, but England just can’t lose to Ireland and expect to win against a tough side like Australia. This looks like the end of the road for England in the World Cup.

Australia

It was quite a shock to see Australia fall to New Zealand in the opening game of the T20 World Cup. Both the batters and bowlers got off to poor starts and Oz couldn't rein it in at the end.

However, the victory over Sri Lanka confirmed that Oz still has strength left in the squad and is worthy of another championship. Sri Lanka’s total of 157 didn’t look so hard to chase at first, but after quick wickets of David Warner for 12 runs and Mitchell Marsh for 18, the Aussies were probably starting to sweat with fear.

Captain Aaron Finch kept things steady with his 31* from 42 deliveries (0 fours and only 1 six was unusual to see), but the Hero Of The Day award must go to Marcus Stoinis. Picking up 59 from only 18 balls is no easy achievement, especially as things were tight in the last five overs. Stoinis finished with an astonishing 4 fours and 6 sixes!

On the bowling side, even the Aussies will tell you that no one was very impressive, but did their job well enough to keep the Sri Lankan total below 200. Pat Cummins was rather expensive at 1/36 (ER: 9.00) and so too was Mitchell Marsh’s single over at 0/14. Spinner Adam Zampa was ruled out of the match due to testing positive for COVID-19, and replacement Ashton Agar performed admirably with 1/25.

However, it’s most likely that Zampa will return to the lineup and be fit enough for the England game. It’s still a bit unusual to see Steve Smith left out of the starting XI, even though he’s in the squad of 15. His experience and leadership would have been valuable in this tournament, but it appears like the Aussie selectors are choosing more youth like Marsh and Tim David.

Australia is more than capable of defeating England with such a great squad, but it will come down to the skills of the players on the day to pick up the win.