 Australia won the first game of the seven ODI series against England at
Oval, but the hosts will look to turn around the scoreline in the second game
at Lord's. And for that, they may need to tinker around with their line-up a bit.
Click for Live Score Card of England vs Australia
The tourists played a very calculative first game, unlike their free flowing
self. They protected themselves from collapses and if that is the brand of cricket
that they will be looking to play, then the English could take advantage of
the same. For now, it does seem that the England could do well to get their
spinners early into the attack, what with the likes of Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart
Broad getting no swing out of the surface. The English spinners have been
doing well against the Australian batsmen, and it was a surprise to find that
Graeme Swann bowled only seven out of his ten overs.
Adil Rashid will be the bowler to look up to for England, as he not only spun
the ball as a leggie, but also managed to bowl a decent line and length and
with a lot of control; making it difficult for the Aussies to score off him.
Andrew Strauss may also mull sending a hard hitting batsman up the order
instead of either Bopara or himself, whereas Jonathon Trott does deserve
a place in the playing eleven if Joe Denly is not fit enough after his
football rendezvous.
Australia, on the other hand, will look to keep surprising the English side
like they did in the first game. Cameron White was promoted to the number
three position, thanks to his half century in the T20I game, and he finally
looks to have sealed his spot in the side after having failed as a middle order
batsman for some time now. On the other hand, Michael Hussey was sent
down to the number six position and that may just become a norm for now.
Despite Brett Lee high economy rate in the first game, he will be picked
for the second match as he actually looked like he was fit and raring to go,
and his pace will come handy. Lee showed that while he was rusty, he had not
lost his ability to bowl those yorkers and that should keep his place intact.
Ever since the fourth test match, Mitchell Johnson only improved and
he could be the man to look out for in the rest of the series; his three wicket
haul making him a stand-out bowler.
To me, the teams still look evenly matched, but it does seem like England will
need to go into the game with a lot more fire in their belly if they want to
make a match out of it.
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