The first meeting between Australia and England since a combative Ashes series promises to be a cracker
Australia v England: All you need to know
It's been mixed fortunes for the two sides, with Australia on a four-match winning streak and England on a four-match losing streak. After a hotly contested Ashes series just a few months ago, there will be no love lost between the sides when they meet on Saturday.
Match facts
Who: Australia v England
When: Saturday November 4. Coin toss at 7:00pm AEDT, first ball at 7:30pm AEDT (2:00pm local)
Where: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
How to watch: Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports and Nine (starts on GEM in Brisbane, Perth)
Officials: Chris Gaffaney and Marais Erasmus (standing), Adrian Holdstock (third), Ahsan Raza (fourth)
Live scores: Match Centre
Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live app, the Unplayable Podcast
The Squads
Australia: 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
England: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Australia's squad has been rocked by the news that two key allrounders in Glenn Maxwell (concussion) and Mitch Marsh (personal reasons) will miss the England match. While Maxwell is expected to return for the following match against Afghanistan, the timeline on Marsh's return is unclear, with no replacement player named at this time.
England's left-arm paceman Reece Topley has been ruled out of the tournament with a fractured finger and has been replaced by 28-year-old quick from Durham, Brydon Carse. England have used every player in their squad with the exception of their late inclusion Carse as they hunt for the winning formula.
Local knowledge
Australia got a look at the shiny new Narendra Modi Stadium when they played the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test match here in March. The site of this new stadium (reconstructed completed in 2020) was built on the same plot where Sardar Patel Stadium sat, which hosted matches at the 1987, 1996 and 2011 World Cups.
There have been just two matches in Ahmedabad so far this World Cup, the opening fixture between England and New Zealand way back on October 5 and India's match against Pakistan shortly after. The chasing side has won easily on both occasions with the average scoring batting first just 236.5.
There was a significant amount of dew on the outfield during the evening sessions on Wednesday and Thursday leading into this match, suggesting that teams will likely look to bowl first if given the chance. The forecast for Saturday is 35C with zero per cent chance of rain.
Probable Starting XIs
Australia: David Warner, Travis Head, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa
England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (c, wk), Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid
Australia will be forced into making at least two changes with Maxwell and Marsh already confirmed to miss the England match. Allrounders Marcus Stoinis, who has recovered from a calf niggle, and Cameron Green are the most likely replacements. Bowling allrounder Sean Abbott is the only player in Australia's squad yet to feature in the tournament.
England have done a lot of chopping and changing throughout the tournament so far with changes in every match. Their bowling unit, which although has been under the pump, put in a strong display in their last outing against India and are likely to be backed in to deliver once again. It's the batting that's been the bigger issue for Jos Buttler's team, bowled out for 170 or less in each of their past three outings. Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone could once again find themselves out of the XI, with Harry Brook a good chance to return after being left out for the previous two matches.
Recent form
Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, N: no result
Australia: WWWWLLWLLL
Four wins on the trot now for Australia who have snapped their poor form leading into the tournament in fine style. Their batting unit has been firing, becoming the first side in men's ODI history to hit three consecutive scores of 350 or higher. Just edged New Zealand in a high-scoring thriller in Dharamsala which also turned out to be the highest scoring match in World Cup history.
England: LLLLWLNWWW
It's been a disastrous campaign for the reigning champions, with big losses to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka particularly shocking. Their World Cup started with a huge nine-wicket loss to New Zealand in Ahmedabad and now they return to the same venue to attempt to reverse their fortunes against Australia. Although not mathematically out of semi-final contention, a loss to the Aussies would seal their seemingly inevitable fate.
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
Last time they met
The most recent 50-over clash between the Ashes rivals was in November last year, a series that Australia won 3-0. England had won the T20 World Cup only a week earlier and could reasonably point to the title hangover as the reason for their below-par performance. Travis Head established himself as Australia's preferred opening partner for David Warner with a terrific 152 in the third ODI in Melbourne as the hosts won by a massive 221 runs, their largest-ever win over England.
Head-to-head
Overall: Australia (87 wins), England (63 wins), two ties, three no results
Past 10 years: Australia (18 wins), England (15 wins)
Most runs: Eoin Morgan (1,952), Ricky Ponting (1,598), Michael Clarke (1,430), Graham Gooch (1,395)
Most wickets: Brett Lee (65), Glenn McGrath (53), Adil Rashid (45), Shane Watson (39)
Australia have been the dominant team in the two sides' ODI history, although England have managed to pull it back somewhat over the past few years. At the World Cup alone Australia lead six wins to three, although crucially it was England who won the most recent, the 2019 semi-final at Edgbaston, which was their first win over the Aussies at the World Cup since 1992.
Rapid stats
- Steve Smith needs just five runs to become the fifth Australian to score 1,000 runs at ODI World Cups and join Ricky Ponting, David Warner, Adam Gilchrist and Mark Waugh.
- This will also be Smith's 31st World Cup match, equalling Gilchrist for the fourth most played for Australia.
- There have been 33 matches in this World Cup as of November 3; the side batting first has won 17 matches, the side chasing has won 16.
- With two centuries in his past three outings, David Warner has been Australia's top run-scorer (413) and the fourth best in the tournament. Dawid Malan has been England's best, but his 236 runs only ranks him 18th.
- Australia's Adam Zampa has been the most prolific wicket-taker in overs 11-40, with his 13 just ahead of South Africa duo Gerald Coetzee (12) and Keshav Maharaj (11), as well as New Zealand's Mitch Santner (11).
- The chasing team has won 12 of the past 19 matches at this venue, a 63 per cent success rate.
- England's current losing streak of four at this tournament is their longest ever at a World Cup
- Despite their batting malaise, England's catching is the tournament's best, with just five drops, the least of any team at this tournament, for a catch success rate of 84 percent. Australia have dropped 11 chances for a catch success rate of 73 per cent.
Where to next?
With only two group stages matches to go it's off to Mumbai for Australia, where they'll face Bangladesh before finishing with Afghanistan in Pune. England end their campaign with Netherlands (Pune) in what looms as a battle to secure 2025 Champions Trophy qualification and Pakistan (Kolkata).
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