Australia vs England: Cricket World Cup live scores, blog

England and Australia will clash at the world famous Lord’s in a huge Cricket World Cup clash. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:30pm (AEST).

Another chapter in the world’s longest-running cricket rivalry is set to be written on a ground where so many previous chapters have been written, and there is plenty of intrigue around the contest.

Most of the questions actually centre around the home side, which is something of a surprise given the Aussies haven’t really been at their best throughout the tournament.

However, England have been shown up as flat track bullies so far, and their failure to chase just 232 against Sri Lanka proved it.

Their middle order crumbled with the exception of Ben Stokes, and on a pitch which was a little bit two-paced, their usual tactics of aggression from the word go just didn’t work in a chase they should have more than comfortably gotten to against a side who have had trouble winning anything in the last 12 months.

And yet, England will need to be careful against Australia again, rather than going all guns blazing. In saying that, if they can get over Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins with the new ball, then there are mountains of runs to be had.

That has been the main criticism of Australia throughout the tournament – that their bowling attack simply doesn’t have enough depth to be on the money for 50 overs.

Every team they have played have had the same tactics batting, and if England get it right at Lord’s, which looked a reasonably good batting track on Sunday when Pakistan got the better of South Africa, then they could run up a score.

With David Warner’s form looking good, albeit slow, and Aaron Finch and Steve Smith in great touch though, Australia will back themselves to chase down anything set, or put a good score on the board.

However, what Australia don’t have, is pressure. They have only lost to India and are as good as in the finals.

England, on the other hand, have also lost to Pakistan, and finish with Australia, India and New Zealand, which are all games they could conceivably lose. Do that, and they will miss the finals.

The good news is that the weather forecast has improved greatly from a couple of days ago, and while there might be a shower, a full game should be played.

Prediction
This is impossible to tell, but England are running into some real pressure after their last-start loss. That should get to them in this one, and with a difficult run to the end of the tournament, they will be under huge pressure to beat India on Sunday after Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc lead the Aussies past them here.

Australia in a nailbiter.

Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this hugely important World Cup clash from 7:30pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.

Game information

First ball: 7:30pm (AEST)
Venue: Lord’s, London
TV: Live, Fox Cricket 501, Fox Cricket HD 255, 9Gem (Channel 92), 9Gem HD (Channel 95)
Online: Live, Kayo Sports, Foxtel App, Foxtel Now, 9Now
Betting: England $1.85, Australia $2.05
Overall record: Played 147, Australia 81, England 61, Tied 2, No result 3
Umpires: Chris Gaffaney, Sundaram Ravi

Squads

Australia
Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

England
Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood