Defending champions England will look to restitch their T20 World Cup campaign through an improved bowling effort when they face ‘old’ rival Australia in a Group B match on Saturday. (More Sports News)
England’s opening game against Scotland was rained off after the latter made 90 for no loss in 10 overs, forcing the teams to take home a point each.
But even those 60 balls showed the need for England to buckle up in the bowling department, to begin with.
Scottish openers George Munsey and Michael Jones scored freely against all England bowlers, and Australia carry far more lethal guns in their line-up.
David Warner and Marcus Stoinis showed the extent of damage they can do while outclassing Oman in their tournament opener.
Once again, there will be a lot of focus on Jofra Archer, who gave away 12 runs in two overs against Scotland, as the pacer continues his comeback trail into top-flight cricket.
But bowling is just one part, as the English batters under skipper Jos Buttler, who had a good run in the IPL 2024, will have to fire in unison against the Aussie attack.
The Australian bowlers were potent against Oman even without Pat Cummins, who had a reasonable outing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.
Nathan Ellis played ahead of Cummins in that game, but Australia might bring back the premier pacer against a much more formidable opponent.
While Australia's batting looks settled, the misfiring Glenn Maxwell remains a missing link.
After enduring a shipwreck of an IPL campaign with Royal Challengers Bengaluru recently, the ‘Big Show’ got out for a first-ball duck against Oman.
The 2021 champions will be eager to see Maxwell return to his best at the earliest, and a match against England offers him a perfect occasion.
Squads
Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Travelling Reserves: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short.
England: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood.
Match starts at 10.30pm IST.
