Australia bowl, Steven Smith in for David Warner

[ad_1]

Toss Australia chose to bowl vs England

Australia captain Aaron Finch once again won the toss and elected to bowl, as the home side look to avoid a clean sweep against England in the three-match T20I series ahead of the T20 World Cup.

After a pair of eight-run defeats in Perth and Canberra, Finch has stuck with the formula of chasing amid overcast conditions as rain threatens the clash at Manuka Oval.

Steven Smith returned to the line-up and replaced opener David Warner, who was ruled out after suffering a stiff neck from a heavy landing while fielding on the boundary in game two.

Australia’s full-strength side in game two was widely deemed as their likely starting line-up for the T20 World Cup, but Smith has a golden opportunity to press his case after being dropped ahead of the series.

The defending T20 World Cup champions have several players under the microscope, including Finch, who returned to his customary opener’s role in game two, and Glenn Maxwell who will move up to the top of the order after scoring just 16 runs in his last six T20Is.

Australia will be hoping to improve in the field after a ragged effort on Wednesday marked by several dropped catches.

England, however, will be looking to build on their momentum built off belligerent half-centuries from Jos Buttler and Alex Hales in the opener then No. 3 Dawid Malan dominating with 82 in game two.

Their batting order remains intact with Ben Stokes named at No.4 despite failing to fire in the opening two matches.

Speedster Mark Wood, who starred in Perth, returned along with bowling allrounder Chris Woakes. They replaced Sam Curran, who bowled superbly in both games to probably cement his T20 World Cup spot, and Chris Jordan, normally a reliable option at the death but who struggled in his return from injury in game two.

Australia: 1 Glenn Maxwell, 2 Aaron Finch (capt), 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Steve Smith, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood

England: 1 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Chris Woakes, 8 David Willey, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Reece Topley

[ad_2]

Source link