AUS vs ENG: Australia pace trio to play the do-or-die ODI

England went down to Australia in the recently concluded Ashes series and the credits for it should be given to the pace bowling trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins who bowled their hearts out in the five-match series. England came back comprehensively in the ODI series to put the hosts on the backfoot with two consecutive victories in the first two one day internationals.

In need of a victory to keep the ODI series alive, Australia will look to unleash their Ashes fast bowling attack for the third match tomorrow at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The trio rattled England’s batting attack on numerous occasions in the Test series but have not played together since the fifth Test due to a combination of illness and rest. In an attempt to bounce back, Australia will be willing to play their three spearheads.

Series on the line

Josh Hazlewood was rested for the first one day international, he was set to play in the second before an illness ruled him out. Cummins will be looking to come back stronger after he was rested in the previous ODI. Mitchell Starc has played both the ODIs and has performed considerably well in both taking six wickets in two ODIs.

Starc’s figures of 2/71 and 4/59 in the two matches this series seem impressive but he admits that he hasn’t made the transition from bowling with the red ball to the white ball fast enough, “I haven’t played too much white ball cricket for a little while with a few injuries,” said Starc to cricket.com.au. “It’s taken me a little bit longer than I would have liked with the new ball”.

“I’ve been pretty poor if I’m honest with the new ball. Leaking a few runs (but) still able to take a few wickets but I think it’s one thing we’ve mentioned as a group is our new ball bowling been pretty poor of late.Me as a senior player I’ve got to step up.I’ve been OK in the past with the new ball, so it’s getting back to that and fixing things up. They come pretty hard at the top of the order. If the two big guys (Hazlewood and Cummins) come back tomorrow it’s important for us to start really well with the ball against a pretty aggressive line-up.”

The pace trio will be raring to go out in the middle and perform with the series on the line. They will be looking to cause the same damage to the batting order that they caused during the Test series. On the other hand, England will be confident after two consecutive wins.