England will begin their quest to restore some pride back home on Sunday when they take on Australia in the opening ODI of five which comes from the Melbourne Cricket Ground. As ever although this is a five match series both teams will be eyeing up a fast start so we should get a good game here.
There is never any love lost when these two are on a cricket field so there should not be a lack of a competitive edge in the game. That should make it very watchable.
Australia
You would think the Australians might have something of an edge here because the new players in their squad from the Test series have been playing in the Big Bash so they have been getting plenty of white ball practice. They are also familiar at playing under lights in these grounds and especially this one which is huge too.
I would imagine that whichever bowling attack Australia put out in this series it is going to be competitive so the answer to the question of what they need to do to win the match is make sure that either their top order goes big or one of the large number of all-rounders they employ deliver the goods with the willow.
England
There is no doubt that England are a much improved side in this format of the game. Although that is the case this will be one of their biggest tests since they completely turned around how they approach 50 overs and it will be interesting to see how they get on. You get the feeling they are not going to change their philosophy which could generate fireworks.
If England are going to win this series then they are going to have to bowl well. We’ve just seen them struggle to bowl to certain Australian batsmen in the Test series and so they are going to have to be at their best in that discipline. I think we can take their batting almost for granted given the options they have and the depth they have.
Team News
Josh Hazlewood has been rested for this opening ODI so it would appear that there is going to be a debut for someone in the bowling attack. Andrew Tye might be the most likely. Cameron White may have to wait his turn.
England look like they are going to play with Alex Hales at number three with Jonny Bairstow ridiculously getting the nod to open the batting once again. Mark Wood and Liam Plunkett should provide some pep to the bowling attack.
Melbourne Cricket Ground
This will be the 148th time there has been an ODI held on this famous ground. This venue has seen it all including World Cup finals and it should get a good contest here. Australia have 74 wins to 44 defeats on this ground with three no results and a tie. England have lost 21 of their 30 ODIs at this venue.
Generally this is a good ground to bat on although we’ve seen the spinners have some joy in the Big Bash matches that have been held here. I’m expecting a high scoring contest especially after the MCG wicket was rated poor in the ODIs.
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Betting
I’m going to start this series quietly from a betting point of view. There are stacks of limited overs matches to come between these two and New Zealand when they get involved in the T20s so we can take our time to assess both outfits before we get expansive with bets.
The bet I like in this match is for over 540.5 runs. I fancy both batting units will come out firing here and if they do we should get a high scoring game. There are always runs to be had here with the wide open and expansive outfield and then the bad balls can still go for four. Both teams bat very deep and in the modern game 270 is usually only a par score on most tracks. I expect to see more than 540.5 runs.
Tips
WON – Back Over 540.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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