England's top batter Joe Root has attempted to stir the pot before the World Cup clash with Australia, saying the ailing former champions still have the better team
Last-placed England eye Aussie clash as 'our World Cup final'
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Joe Root is feeling bullish ahead of England's World Cup clash with Australia, claiming he would "have this team every day" over their rivals despite wildly differing fortunes at the World Cup.
The Ashes adversaries meet on Saturday evening at Ahmedabad's 130,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium, which will also host the tournament final on November 19.
Only one of the two teams has any prospect of making it that far, with England propping up the table in 10th place after one win in six while Australia appear set fair for the knockouts after four victories.
But Root refuses to believe a side who came in as defending champions have slipped as far as the standings suggest.
"Man for man, I'd have this team every day over the Australians," he said, with an air of confidence that has largely eluded England since they touched down in India.
"We might not have played as well as we can do but we know when we play our best stuff the best teams struggle to compete with us.
"I look at this team and it's more than capable of achieving way more than it has done throughout this tournament. With the quality of players we have, we should be sat right at the top of this table. We all know that and we're all very frustrated that isn't the case.
"We've just got to look at Saturday as our World Cup final and play in the manner that's expected of us and we expect of ourselves.
"We have massively underachieved to date and have three opportunities to show the world what we are capable of doing and what I know we are capable of doing."
The statistical head-to-head makes for grim reading, with Australia boasting five centuries to England's one, 61 sixes to England's 27 and 47 wickets taken to England's 36.
Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa has taken 16 scalps, twice as many as opposite number Adil Rashid.
But Root is relying on the competitive juices that come with every meeting between these two teams to drag his side out of their torpor.
England were 2-0 behind after the first two Tests of this year's Ashes series but rallied to dominate the next three games, albeit one with a fortuitous ball change at The Oval while a winning position was thwarted by rain at Old Trafford.
Relations between the teams were strained at times during the Test summer with the England team infamously making excuses to not participate in the traditional post-series mingling, while a flashpoint was Jonny Bairstow's run out at Lord's.
The battle lines remain drawn, with Bairstow and Stuart Broad recently resurfacing their angst over the issues, while Marnus Labuschagne insists the Australians have long since moved on.
A press conference clip of Australia captain Pat Cummins smirking and suppressing giggles as he contemplated England's World Cup struggles has been duly noted but has not raised Root's hackles.
"Let's face it, if it was the other way around would we be doing the same? Probably," he said.
"If it motivates us a little bit more, great. It hurts, but it always hurts to be in this position, sat at the bottom of the table.
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"There is no better motivator for any group of English players than to play against the Aussies.
"From my point of view, I throw everything into giving my absolute 100 per cent for England and can look people in the eye and shake them by the hand and move onto the next game. I've got no animosity with any of their team."
Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures
October 8: Lost to India by six wickets
October 12: Lost to South Africa by 134 runs
October 16: Defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets
October 20: Defeated Pakistan by 62 runs
October 25: Defeated Netherlands by 309 runs
October 28: Defeated New Zealand by five runs
November 4: v England, Ahmedabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
November 7: v Afghanistan, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
November 11: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
2023 World Cup standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points