England have already sealed the ODI series against Australia but after being battered in the Ashes they will be looking to keep rubbing their hosts’ noses in it when the two sides meet in the fourth ODI of five in Adelaide on Friday.
Australia will be desperate to avoid the whitewash to the old enemy and they will be equally inspired to win on Australia Day so while this is technically a dead rubber it should still have a competitive edge to it.
Australia
You would have to say that while Australia haven’t been at anywhere near their best in this series it has taken a couple of special innings to deny them in two of the matches which might be why there doesn’t appear to be a huge amount of panic in their camp. The other reason might be that they know they have a lot of improvement in them.
The Australians haven’t batted well in this series. They have got off to decent enough starts but their middle order has been poor and that has let England back into the game. Glenn Maxwell said that Australia need to stay aggressive in the middle overs and he is right. It will be interesting to see if his teammates take his advice.
England
The real positive for England is that they are 3-0 up without really playing their best stuff. They are persevering with this nonsense idea of opening with Bairstow and batting Hales at 3, to the detriment of both, but luckily for them so far they have had a couple of players that have come up with the special innings to win matches.
The other positive for the touring side in this series has been their bowling attack which has regularly taken wickets and has restricted the flow of runs too. That has often been a negative for them in recent years so the fact Australia haven’t been able to get at them, especially in the middle to later overs, is a big thing.
Team News
Australia will be forced into one change for this match as Aaron Finch has been ruled out of the contest. Glenn Maxwell has been called into the squad but most expect Travis Head to go in and open the batting.
England are also likely to be forced into a change with Liam Plunkett picking up an injury in the previous match. David Willey could be the natural replacement although Tom Curran is another option.
Adelaide Oval
This will be the 83rd ODI at the Adelaide Oval and the 50th one that Australia will have featured in. They currently have a record of 34 wins to 15 defeats here. England’s record here is less than stellar. They have four wins to 11 defeats with a no result.
Generally this is a good wicket to bat on and David Warner and Travis Head certainly enjoyed it last year when they both made tons as Australia piled up 360+. The square boundaries here are tiny so not for the first time in this series the runs should flow.
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Betting
I backed England to win the previous match and they obliged and I see no reason to desert them here. While it isn’t ideal that it has taken special knocks to win two of the three matches it may not be a negative because the England middle order has match winners everywhere you look. The important thing is they have won when setting a score and when chasing which will be excellent for their confidence.
Australia miss their leading run scorer in Aaron Finch for this match which is very much a positive for England and it could be a positive for Marcus Stoinis too. Stoinis has a couple of 50s in the series and over the last year or so he has been a bright spark for Australia in a period of indifference in this format. If England get stuck in again early Stoinis could well have the top score credentials within his capabilities in this match.
Tips
Back England to win 4th ODI for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with LeoVegas
Back them here:
Back M.Stoinis Top Australia Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 11.00 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
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