England and Australia will be facing each other in the third game of the ongoing ODI series. Australia will look forward to clinching the series while England will try their best to keep the series alive for the next few days. The match will be played on 24th September on Chester-le-Street.
Match preview:
Australia has played wonderful all-round cricket so far in the ongoing series even though they were missing out on their main players and sometimes unexpected heroes emerged.
During the first ODI of the series, besides Travis Head’s masterclass it was a magical spell of Marnus Labuschagne who restricted the host side to the modest total of 315 at a pitch called “batting paradise”
Marnus got the crucial wicket of Phil Salt and the stand-in skipper Harry Brook during the 1st ODI. And of course, after that it was the power of in-form Travis Head who guided his side to a victory as he registered a thumping century against arch-rivals.
And in the second ODI, when Australia was struggling to get going and lost six wickets for just 161, it was Alex Carey who played a crucial knock to guide his team to a match winning total of 270 before Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood bowled brilliant spells and Aaron Hardie showed promise too.
So far, Australia has played this series as world champions. They have a few concerns and one of them is Steve Smith. Smith has shown some great performances in the Major League cricket as he scored unbeaten 88 before leaving for England tour, but as of now, he has failed to replicate it for his national side. If anything, Australia will be hoping that Smith gets his groove back and scores a match-winning knock in the upcoming match.
Talking about England, they haven’t played a good amount of cricket in this series so far and probably bottled the both games – even when they had Australia in the first half.
At Trent Bridge they were 213-2 in 33 overs before losing wickets in spineless manners and getting bowled out on 315. And during the Headingley Test they had Australia six wickets mere on 161 before they allowed Alex Carey to score a match-winning knock who was replacing injured Josh Inglis.
England are yet to find their mojo as the Bazball approach is apparently not working in ODIs cricket so far, the world cup 2023 is just another proof. Still there were a few positives for the home side. Ben Duckett is in great form, Adil Rashid remains world-class, Jamie Smith has shown promise and Brydon Carse could replicate the impact of Liam Plunkett.
The home side will be hoping firecrackers from Salt and Brook as they have been key players for the side and the comeback of Jofra Archer may keep the Australian batters at bay.
Pitch and weather report:
The pitches of Chester-le-Street tend to assist batters but the forecast suggests a bit of rain and it can help the pacers too. The captain who wins the toss will likely opt to bat first given the recent records at the ground and the pitch also assist spinners in the second innings.
Head-to-head record:
Out of a total of 158 ODIs played between the two sides, Australia have triumphed in 90 fixtures while England have claimed 63 games.
Predictions:
Australia is likely to clinch the series tomorrow by winning the third ODI of the series. They are in form, they are playing good cricket, there are unexpected heroes, and then there is luck. Can England beat all of this? The answer is probably a no.
Where to watch:
Pakistan: Tapmad
UK: Sky Sports
India: SonyLiv app and website
Australia: Foxtel
Others: CricHD
