Its the battle of the arch rivals at the Oval in London as England lock horns with Australia in the 2nd ODI of the 5 match series. England had earlier won the Lord's ODI by 15 runs, thanks to a belligerent knock by Eion Morgan. The Oval ODI promises to be another cracker-jacker of a contest with Australia trying desperately hard to get back to winning ways. Australia will certainly be giving it their all to square the series here at the Oval. On the other hand, the confident England team will look to take the lead further and make it more tougher for Australia to make a comeback in the series. The Oval track is going to provide a run-fest with about 600 runs expected to be scored in the match.
England side will surely have a boosted morale after the victory in the 1st ODI. Alastair Cook has led the team pretty well and has taken vital decisions in the context of the game. England have got a top heavy batting line up with the onus lying on Cook, Bell and Trott. The 3 of them showed good temperament in the 1st ODI and batted well. England fans will be hoping that they fire today as well. Eion Morgan showed why he still deserves to be in the England ODI side with a match winning knock of 89* in just 63 balls. Australia have got be wary of him. England have got a bunch of brilliant pacers in the likes of Anderson, Broad, Finn and Bresnan and all of them are potential match winners. Graeme Swann will be the lone spinner in the England ranks.
Australia are down 1-0 in the series and need to win today, otherwise they will have to chase from behind. They don't seem to be the same side they used to be 5 years ago and the youngsters have still not performed the way the selectors would like them to. Michael Clarke was found short of options in the 1st ODI when Morgan was going all guns blazing. The bowling looks very weak. Apart from Brett Lee, no other bowler looks threatening. The batting line up needs to settle down as quickly as possible. George Bailey certainly does not fit into the no.3 spot and alternatives need to be searched for. Australia need to be on the top of their game if they want to beat the English men at the Oval. So be ready to witness this thrilling encounter today.
The Match is scheduled to start at 9.45 GMT.
No comments:
Post a Comment