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Pressure was the talk of Melbourne ahead of Australia and England’s crunch meeting at the MCG on Friday.
The winner of the huge game in Group 1 of the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup will effectively have knocked out the other, with two defeats likely to be terminal to chances of qualifying for the semi-finals of the tournament.
Hosts and defending champions Australia were pummeled in their opening group game, but are back on a high after Marcus Stoinis inspired a win over Sri Lanka with a brutal display of hitting last time out.
In contrast, England followed up their winning start with a lacklustre showing against Ireland, a performance that resulted in defeat on DLS Method to leave Jos Buttler and his side needing a big run of wins to avoid leaving the World Cup at the Super 12 stage.
“We know we have made a mistake and have put more pressure on us,” Buttler admitted. “But certainly, if you needed a game to get going then England v Australia is one of those.”
England’s equation is relatively simple. Beat Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, and their qualification hopes remain in their own hands. Lose any of those games and a group-stage exit is possible, if not probable.
A similar scenario lies ahead for Australia, although their final two group games come against the lower-ranked Afghanistan and Ireland, matches that the hosts would expect to win.
So rather than results, the talk of pressure directed toward the Australia camp was focussed on the role and selection of captain Aaron Finch.
The opener endured a tricky evening against Sri Lanka, scratching his way to 31* from 42 balls in a manner that has prompted further discussions about his place in the side.
Read: Record-breaking knock from Stoinis in a partnership of extraordinary contrasts
“I don’t feel any more pressure than I ever have, the only pressure is the expectation you put on yourself,” Finch said ahead of the England game.
“Everyone’s got their opinion, that’s fine. I’ve got no issue with what people’s personal opinions are, I don’t read or listen to any of it.”
Predicted Playing XI
Australia
Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
England
Jos Buttler (c), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Key Players
Jos Buttler: Since finding a tempo to his T20 batting, Buttler has gone from a dangerous hitter to a calculated batter who adapts to game situations and maximises boundary opportunities, keeping the strike rate quite a bit above par. An aggressive Alex Hales aids Buttler's new mantra at the other end, and potentially helps him get those big knocks for England.
Glenn Maxwell: He has been stuck in a rut of late. Maxwell is averaging only 16.53 in T20Is this year and his strike rate has also gone down to 120.97, which is quite low by his standards. He has to get back to the top of his game soon in order to help his team get through to the semi-finals, and showed positive signs during a destructive cameo against Sri Lanka.
==
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The winner of the huge game in Group 1 of the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup will effectively have knocked out the other, with two defeats likely to be terminal to chances of qualifying for the semi-finals of the tournament.
Hosts and defending champions Australia were pummeled in their opening group game, but are back on a high after Marcus Stoinis inspired a win over Sri Lanka with a brutal display of hitting last time out.
In contrast, England followed up their winning start with a lacklustre showing against Ireland, a performance that resulted in defeat on DLS Method to leave Jos Buttler and his side needing a big run of wins to avoid leaving the World Cup at the Super 12 stage.
“We know we have made a mistake and have put more pressure on us,” Buttler admitted. “But certainly, if you needed a game to get going then England v Australia is one of those.”
England’s equation is relatively simple. Beat Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, and their qualification hopes remain in their own hands. Lose any of those games and a group-stage exit is possible, if not probable.
A similar scenario lies ahead for Australia, although their final two group games come against the lower-ranked Afghanistan and Ireland, matches that the hosts would expect to win.
So rather than results, the talk of pressure directed toward the Australia camp was focussed on the role and selection of captain Aaron Finch.
The opener endured a tricky evening against Sri Lanka, scratching his way to 31* from 42 balls in a manner that has prompted further discussions about his place in the side.
Read: Record-breaking knock from Stoinis in a partnership of extraordinary contrasts
“I don’t feel any more pressure than I ever have, the only pressure is the expectation you put on yourself,” Finch said ahead of the England game.
“Everyone’s got their opinion, that’s fine. I’ve got no issue with what people’s personal opinions are, I don’t read or listen to any of it.”
Predicted Playing XI
Australia
Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
England
Jos Buttler (c), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Key Players
Jos Buttler: Since finding a tempo to his T20 batting, Buttler has gone from a dangerous hitter to a calculated batter who adapts to game situations and maximises boundary opportunities, keeping the strike rate quite a bit above par. An aggressive Alex Hales aids Buttler's new mantra at the other end, and potentially helps him get those big knocks for England.
Glenn Maxwell: He has been stuck in a rut of late. Maxwell is averaging only 16.53 in T20Is this year and his strike rate has also gone down to 120.97, which is quite low by his standards. He has to get back to the top of his game soon in order to help his team get through to the semi-finals, and showed positive signs during a destructive cameo against Sri Lanka.
==
All posters please take note of the following guidelines for match threads on PakPassion:
1. No personal insults at other posters, players, officials, coaching staffs etc.
2. No making fun of player's, official's, coaching staff's names.
3. Do not add any references to media, their social media or post any pictures or screenshots from other sports websites.
4. Stick to commenting on this match. There is no need to bring other countries into the match discussion as there are plenty of other threads where those discussions can be added.
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