Edgbaston, Birmingham is the venue for the second of the Cricket World Cup semi finals which sees Australia clash with England on Thursday.
Australia:
Australia finished second on the log at the end of the round robin stage with an overall record of 7 wins and 2 defeats. They were first team to seal a semi final place but a loss to South Africa in their most recent outing saw them overhauled by India in the standings which means they now take on England rather than New Zealand in the semi finals. Australia haven’t played at Edgbaston in the tournament to date.
Results: Afghanistan (won by 7 wickets), West Indies (won by 15 runs), India (lost by 36 runs), Pakistan (won by 41 runs), Sri Lanka (won by 87 runs), Bangladesh (won by 48 runs), England (won by 64 runs), New Zealand (won by 86 runs), South Africa (lost by 10 runs).
Top Run Scorers: David Warner 638, Aaron Finch 507, Alex Carey 329
Top Bowlers: Mitchell Starc 26, Pat Cummins 13, Jason Behrendorff 9
This was how Australia lined up against South Africa last time out and note that injury to Usman Khawaja has ruled him out of the remainder of the tournament.
David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon
England:
England finished third on the log at the end of the round robin stage with an overall record of 6 wins and 3 defeats. They looked in good shape after winning 4 of their first 5 matches before suffering back to back defeats to Sri Lanka and Australia. That left England needing to win their last 2 matches against fellow semi finalists India and New Zealand and they were equal to the task. The win over India was England’s only match at Edgbaston in the tournament so far.
Results: South Africa (won by 104 runs), Pakistan (lost by 14 runs), Bangladesh (won by 106 runs), West Indies (won by 8 wickets), Afghanistan (won 150 runs), Sri Lanka (lost by 20 runs), Australia (lost by 64 runs), India (won by 31 runs), New Zealand (won by 119 runs)
Top Run Scorers: Joe Root 500, Jonny Bairstow 462, Ben Stokes 381.
Top Bowlers: Jofra Archer 17 wickets, Mark Wood 16, Chris Woakes 10.
This was how England lined up against New Zealand last time out.
Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Head to Head
When the teams met at Lords in Match 32 Australia won by 64 runs. Opening pair Finch and Warner put on 123 for the first stick before Warner fell for 53. Finch went on to make 100 although having looked likely to post well in excess of 300 the Australian innings lost momentum and closed on 285/7.
The Australian bowlers tore into England with Behrendorff striking with the second ball of the first over and Starc removed Joe Root in the fourth over. Behrendorff went on to return figures of 5/44 from his 10 overs and Starc, who bowled 8.4 overs, was also mightily impressive with 4/43 as England were bowled out for 221 (Stokes 89).
Overall the teams have met 148 times with England winning 61, Australia have won 82 with 2 ties and 3 no results.
The Betting, Click here for all markets
Australia 11/10
England 15/20
Note prices quoted are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change.
Verdict:
I fancy England to come out on top although I wouldn’t be overly confident and hence I will look outside of the match result for a betting interest.
Starc has been sensational for Australia, Cummins has also bowled well and now Behrendorff has picked up 9 wickets in 4 matches. That leads me to think that England will target bowlers 4 and 5 and I fancy that one of them will cop it with an over going for 16 runs or more.
Additional interest comes in the Player Performance market. Chris Woakes knows the conditions at Edgbaston well, he picked up a couple of wickets against India here and he can also contribute with the bat. With 1 point per run, 20 per wicket and 10 per catch on offer his current quote looks beatable.
Suggested Bets:
England, Highest Total Runs Scored in a Single Over, over 15.5 at 9/10
Player Performance, Chris Woakes over 37.5 at 9/10
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