It is the age old rivalry between England and Australia which will take centerstage at the MCG on Friday. The two teams come in with contrasting forms, Australians came back from the dead to beat Sri Lanka. England on the other hand lost by 5 runs to Ireland on Wednesday in what was yet another shock in the tournament.
Venue – Melbourne Cricket Ground
Time – 1330 AM IST
Likely pitch conditions –
With rain a constant threat, the Australian and English would both want to bowl first of they win the toss. The DLS method can come into play if there is constant rain and in that case chasing makes life easier for both the teams.
Likely England XI – J Buttler, A. Hales, D. Malan, B. Stokes, H. Brook, L. Livingstone, M. Ali, S. Curran, C. Woakes, A. Rashid and M. Wood
Likely Australia XI – Finch, Warner, Marsh, Maxwell, Stoinis, David, Wade, Cummins, Starc, Agar and Hazlewood
Head to Head record –
Matches played – 23
Australia -10
England -11
No result -2
T20I record at MCG –
Games played -17
Matches won by home team – 9
Matches won by visiting/ neutral side – 7
No result - 1
Matches won after 1st batting – 6
Matches won after 2nd batting -10
Matches won after winning the toss – 8
Matches won after losing the toss – 8
Highest scorer at MCG – 89 – David Warner vs SA
Best bowling at MCG – 4/30 Josh Hazlewood vs England
Approaching Milestones-
·This is Jos Buttler’s 100th T20I match for England
·Jos Buttler needs 105 runs to reach 2500 runs in T20I cricket
·Ben Stokes needs 17 runs to score 500 runs in T20I cricket
·David Warner needs 134 runs to score 3000 runs in T20I cricket
·Mitchell Marsh needs 9 more sixes to reach 50 sixes mark in T20I cricket
·Ashton Agar needs 2 more wickets to pick 50 wickets in T20I cricket