England vs Australia Prediction & Betting Tips - ICC World Cup

Prediction published on 09/07/2019, 18:08  by amy | Modified on 10/07/2019 at 03:20 in Cricket Predictions

England had to work hard in the end to qualify for the semi-finals and take on Australia at Edgbaston. They lost three of their group matches and it was looking as if they could even miss out on the required top four position. Then they turned things round with wins over India and New Zealand to qualify in third place. Their method in those two final games was a simple one, bat first, score over 300 and win the match. That's been a familiar pattern in this lengthy tournament with run chases for high totals being extremely unsuccessful.  Only Bangladesh against West Indies scored more than 300 to win a game, in fact eight of the last nine group matches saw the team bat first win the game. England's poor form coincided with the absence of opener Jason Roy. His partnership with Johnny Bairstow (centuries in the last two matches) is vital for England but can they prosper against the pace attack that Australia have? When the two teams met in the group stages, Australia reduced England (who were without Roy and had the inconsistent James Vince opening for all of two balls) to 53-4. Just how England's top line-up fares early on will be key to this game.

The same applies to Australia who have David Warner and Aaron Finch in excellent form. They put on a century opening partnership against England in that group match. Finch hit a century in that game and Warner hit one in the weekend defeat by South Africa. Warner has scored 638 runs in nine innings with three centuries and three fifties. His opening partner, Finch has 507 runs with two centuries and three fifties. If either or both fire in this game, then England are in trouble. It's not just their batsman that present danger to England with Smith, Maxwell and Carey all potential matchwinners, Australia have a great bowling line-up too. Mitchell Starc has 26 wickets in this tournament and Jason Behrendorff took four in their group match against England. This match could go either way but when it gets to this stage of a tournament, it's difficult to back against Australia who have won this trophy more times than any other nation. Go for an Australia win.