Australia’s momentum continues to build heading into the T20 World Cup. Having swept aside Zimbabwe, New Zealand and most recently the West Indies, the Aussies will now renew hostilities with bitter rivals England.
The first match of this three-game series will take place in Perth on Sunday, with both teams looking to boost their credentials as World Cup contenders.
Josh Nevett takes a close look at the contest with his free preview and cricket betting tips below.
Australia vs England T20 Game 1 Preview & Betting Tips
Perth Stadium, Perth, Sunday October 9th, 7:10pm (AEDT)
Squads
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner
England: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
Match Preview
Both teams enter this contest in winning form – Australia wrapped up a 2-0 win over the West Indies on Friday night and England recently pipped Pakistan 4-3 in a marathon seven-game series.
The hosts will be buoyed by their performance on Friday, as the batting group finally clicked to tally 7-178. David Warner was the standout at the top of the order with 75 (41), while rising star Tim David contributed 42 (20) to push his team towards a match winning total.
With the ball, Mitch Starc was back to his best with 4-20 (4) and aptly supported by Australia’s elite pace battery, along with Adam Zampa.
Things won’t be as easy this time around though, as a busy run of fixtures has forced the home side to make wholesale changes for the first T20 against England.
Zampa, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Starc and Glenn Maxwell have been rested, providing opportunities for some of the reserve players to impress before the stars return in Game 2. Mitch Marsh and Marcus Stoinis look set to take part on Sunday.
England have named a squad featuring a mix of experienced names and fresh faces.
Jonny Bairstow is out of the side after his horror golf injury, however big hitter Alex Hales is a very capable replacement. Jos Buttler will lead the team as captain.
These two teams are generally well matched in this form of the game, but Australia holds a huge advantage playing at home, having won seven of the eight T20 internationals played on Aussie soil.
In saying that, I’m backing England to defy the history and get the win here. Australia is missing it’s whole first choice bowling attack and given their patchy performances with the bat recently there is enough to suggest that England are deserved favourites.
Prop Bets
I’m backing England to take advantage of Australia’s second tier bowling line-up on Sunday night, so it makes sense to back one of their batsmen for the highest individual score.
Team of Top Runscorer - England ($1.90 Ladbrokes)
Warner was back to his best on Friday, smashing a quickfire 75. He hit the middle of the bat more often than not and scored runs to all corners of the Gabba. As an opener, he always gets ample opportunity to score big and I think he will lead the way again on Sunday.
Australia Top Runscorer – David Warner ($4.00 Ladbrokes)
