The final game of Group A will be held tomorrow at the Edgbaston in Birmingham. England, who have already secured qualification for the Semi-Finals, will be looking to take out historical arch-rivals, Australia, out of the competition. Australia, stuck on two points from two matches, all washed out due to rain, will be looking for a win to finish second in Group A. Along with Australia, Bangladesh will be looking to make it into the Champions Trophy Semi-Finals for the first time, if Australia loses, or the match is canceled.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Australia's five of the last six matches have been washed out. The Aussies cannot afford a washout tomorrow, they can only win if they want to achieve a Semi-Final spot.
- The last time these two teams met in an ICC tournament was in Melbourne for the World Cup in 2015. Australia thrashed them by 111 runs. England later failed to qualify for the knockout stages after losing to Bangladesh.
Team Guide
England is expected to not make any changes after their victory versus New Zealand, meaning they will play the two spinners, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali.
They will keep the regular opening pair of Jason Roy and Alex Hales, despite Jason Roy failing to contribute with poor batting in this tournament, with Joe Root at number three. They will play four seamers, Ben Stokes, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood, and Jake Ball. Liam Plunkett will be looking to continue his excellent bowling career on the big stage while Jason Roy will look to contribute with the bat.
Australia's opening order has been a bit shaky in English conditions, but the big news must come from Glenn Maxwell. While his T20 career has been successful, his ODI career, has, unfortunately, been quite fruitless. Along with failing to find a good score with the bat, he has been quite expensive in bowling, and he will be looking to save his spot in the team tomorrow.
Chris Lynn could also be in the ranks to get a start, but it's quite unclear where to fit him in the starting XI. He was been very successful in modern day T20, but he is still yet to make his mark in One-Day Cricket.
The pitch will be quite new, which was set to be used during the Pakistan vs South Africa game on Wednesday but was soft due to rain.
This new pitch should have more movement on it, and the toss winning team will be looking to bowl first.
However, the main question is rain, which is forecasted for tomorrow in Birmingham, but unsure if it will fall around game time. A no result will force Australia out of the tournament and Bangladesh will be declared as runners-up in Group A.
