England v Australia 5th ODI Preview: England on the verge of a famous series victory

England v Australia 5th ODI Preview: England on the verge of a famous series victory: Tighten up your seat belts and get ready for the most exciting clash of this English summer at Old Trafford. Yes, we are talking about the series decider match between England and Australia which will take place on 13 September. The 5 match ODI series is tied at 2-2 and unlike the Test series it is turning out to be a belter of a contest with both the teams putting in the hard yards to win.

After defeats in the first 2 ODIs, making a comeback in the series seemed difficult for the hosts but the Eoin Morgan led English side has changed its colours since the disastrous World Cup  2015 campaign. With wins in Old Trafford and Headingley in the 3^rd and 4^th ODI respectively, England has made a remarkable comeback in the series. And now the series is set for a showdown encounter.

England:

Coming into the match, England has all the momentum on their side as they have defeated the Australian’s in the last two encounters and would look to carry on their good run of form at Old Trafford as well in the 5^th and final ODI of the series. They would want to clinch the series on the ground from where they had staged a comeback in the series. With the English skipper Eoin Morgan in blazing form, who has scored 599 runs in 9 innings since World Cup 2015 at an average of 66 and James Taylor who piled up century last time when he played at Old Trafford are looking in red-hot form. Roy will also look to continue his merry run as he has scored 2 fifties in the 4 matches of the series.

The English spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid deserve a pat on their back for bowling their heart out in the series till now. They would look to carry on their good work while in David Willley who struck thrice in the previous match to leave the tourists reeling at 30/3, they have a guy who would love to jolt the Aussies once again and put England into position of ascendancy. The likes of Plunkett and Wood have to step on the gas to press England’s chances of series victory even more.

Earlier, England had defeated Kiwi’s 3-2 in the home series. And now they will fancy their chances in the 5^th ODI as a win here would mean bilateral series triumphs over the World Cup finalists New Zealand and Australia respectively.

Australia:

The World Champions Australia came into this tournament as favorites as they have a commanding ODI side and they did play in their ruthless style as well in the first 2 ODIs in which they defeated the hosts but since then their momentum and final step towards the series win has taken a halt. In the 3^rd as well as the 4^th ODI, they had gone with the mindset of closing in the series but that was not supported by their flop show in the batting and bowling departments respectively.

The failure of the openers Finch and Burns has exposed their batting order. Smith hasn’t been in his usual scorching form which has deeply hit their chances in the last 2 ODIs. Though the comeback man Wade has bombarded 164 runs in the 4 matches at an average of 82 and strike-rate of 137 and has emerged as Australia’s best bet in the series. Maxwell’s belligerent return to form and Bailey’s fifty in the last match, are certainly promising good things to come in the series decider.

Australia’s biggest foe in the series has been the failure of its World Cup hero Mitchell Starc who has hardly been the shadow of himself in the series. Pat Cummins has proved his mettle and has been consistently bowling in excess of 90 mph without being wayward. The youngster has been the strike bowler for the Aussies and their fate will depend upon him in the series decider. As they say a lone gram can’t bust the oven so the likes of Pattinson and Hastings have to come good as a pack in the decider.

Probable XI-

England: Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Steven Finn, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, David Willey.

Australia: Aaron Finch, Steve Smith (c), Glenn Maxwell, George Bailey, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jason Hastings, Joe Burns, James Pattinson.