MELBOURNE: Australia and England will meet in their first pool match of the Cricket World Cup 2015 on Saturday (tomorrow) at Melbourne ground.
International Cricket Council’s (ICC) biggest event won’t have a better start then a first day thriller between arch rivals England and Australia. The second biggest rivalry in cricket world after Pakistan and India.
Both teams face each other six times in mega event, Australia has won four, including the final in 1987.
But as it heads into what is the opening game for both teams, in front of a capacity crowd of 90,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, it’s one of those losses that will make Australia wary given its status as pre-tournament favourite.
Back in March 1992, Australia was hosting its first World Cup. After a poor start to the tournament, it went to Sydney and a match against England knowing that victory was almost imperative.
Instead, it lost by a wide margin of eight wickets. Ian Botham, who followed up his 4 for 31 with a 77-ball 53, was the wrecker-in-chief. A few days later, Imran Khan’s cornered tigers pushed Australia through the trapdoor.
Michael Clarke will not be rushed back for Australia’s World Cup opener against England at the MCG on Saturday despite his encouraging performance in a warm-up win over the UAE on Wednesday.
Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has confirmed Clarke will instead stick to the original timeline for recovery from his hamstring surgery, and is expected to return against Bangladesh on February 21.
Match will start at 8:30 A.M Pakistan standard time (PST).
Squads of both teams:
AUSTRALIA: George Bailey, Michael Clarke (capt), Patrick Cummins, Xavier Doherty, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson.
ENGLAND: Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Eoin Morgan (capt), Joe Root, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes.
Live streaming: Ten sports, PTV Sports
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