ICC World Cup 2019 – Match 32: ENG vs AUS – Australia Predicted Playing XI

Except for the jolt against India, Australia has been pretty much clinical and dominative in the World Cup 2019. In their previous three encounters, the Kangaroos registered three big wins and have almost sealed their knockout spot. Though, the team will play its last three games of the tournament against three tough opposition – England, New Zealand and South Africa.

While they look to reclaim the top spot on the points table, there are still a few issues to be addressed. The team is yet to finish a game as well as they’d have liked. There has been an occasional struggle with the sixth bowler and some of their frontline bowlers have turned out to be really expensive at times. Even though their playing XI seems pretty much sorted, these are some of the issues they’ve still got to find answers for in these three matches.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for Australia:

Openers (David Warner, Aaron Finch (c))

The opening in one thing that the management would be the least concerned about. David Warner and Aaron Finch have been excellent often providing the team with some exceptional starts. They’ve complemented each other well and ensured that at least one of them bats through a majority of the innings.

Thus far, Warner and Finch have scored 447 and 396 runs in the tournament respectively. Playing against the strong English side, it is almost a must for this duo to provide the team with a good start. While Warner scored 166 runs in the last match against Bangladesh, Finch mustered a well-made 53.

Middle Order (Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Alex Carey (wk))

Except for Shaun Marsh, there aren’t many alternatives for Australia to consider. Thus, they might not tinker with a combination that’s been going so well. Khawaja found his form back in the last match with a brilliant 89 and answered all his critics in style. He will continue to bat at number three unless the overs remaining in the game are too less.

Steve Smith batted way too low down the order and couldn’t really finish the innings for his team. He got out on 1 but has got to make it big against the arch-rivals. Alex Carey will bat at seven but he should look to score more quickly and play with a lot of freedom. The wicket-keeper batsman is a clean striker of the ball and must back his ability.

All Rounders (Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis)

With Marcus Stoinis back in the side, the Australia team looks a lot of balanced and has got great flexibility now. He and Glenn Maxwell will be the floaters in the line-up depending upon the situation of the game. Maxwell was excellent in the last match and seemed to be in the mood for a big knock.

However, things didn’t pan out as he would have expected as his quickfire innings came to an end due to a run-out. Stoinis, on the other hand, had a decent outing both with the bat and the ball. There is no doubt about this duo’s place in the eleven and will have an important role to play.

Bowlers (Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa)

Nathan Coulter-Nile is fighting for spots in the playing XI with Kane Richardson. But he did well in the last match and that should persuade the management to persist with him in the side. However, he’s got to be on his toes and must maintain the consistency. Pat Cummins has done a fabulous job both with the new ball and in the middle overs.

He has picked regular wickets and has put his team ahead in the race. He will share the new ball duties with Mitchell Starc, who is possibly Australia’s best bowler of the tournament so far. Starc has been effective at cleaning up the tails of the oppositions. Adam Zampa, who seems to be preferred over Nathan Lyon, is expected to be effective on what is presumed to be a slow track.