England vs Australia 2nd ODI Live Match – 8th September 2013

After the series opener was washed out, England and Australia will be looking forward to the 2nd ODI in Manchester where the forecast is much more positive. England’s approach by resting five of their biggest stars tells us that they aren’t prioritizing this ODI series against Australia. Steven Finn needs a big ODI series against Australia since his spot in all formats is under pressure and will want to secure them for the Australia tour last this year. James Faulkner is establishing himself as a very important player in this Australian team in all formats of the game and will want to have an eventful series.

The washout at Headingley denied England the opportunity to field the experimental side that has caused disquiet. Remember, Alastair Cook, the captain, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Graeme Swann have all been rested. Eoin Morgan leads in place of Cook. What he takes charge of has been called, in some quarters, a “reserve side”. Pity the folk who bought tickets for these clashes some months ago. What they will see is an England team strong in batting but weak in bowling. Kevin Pietersen, Joe Root and Jonathan Trott make sure of the former. Steven Finn leads the attack but Boyd Rankin (one cap), Jamie Overton (zero) and Chris Jordan (zero) excite only Australians with bats in their hands. James Tredwell is a wily spin option.

We expect Australia to field the same side which duffed-up Scotland by 200 runs. On the face of it, they look well-balanced. Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh and Shane Watson provide the potential for frighteningly-fast impetus up top, followed by the middle-order finishing of Michael Clarke and George Bailey. Mitchell Johnson and Clint McKay provide the tourists with the advantage. They are the two best bowlers on show. Fawad Ahmed, the leggie, will be an interesting one to watch. He looked nervy in the Twenty20 but over the ‘dull’ middle-over period, he might tie England up. Whatever the line-ups, there should finally be some one-day cricket at Manchester and it should be fiercely contested, as only rivals can do.

Match Timings: Sep 08, 2013 (10:15 local | 09:15 GMT | 14:45 IST)

England (probable) 1 Michael Carberry, 2 Kevin Pietersen, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Jos Buttler (wk), 8 Ben Stokes, 9 James Tredwell, 10 Boyd Rankin, 11 Steven Finn.

Australia (probable) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 George Bailey, 6 Adam Voges, 7 Matthew Wade, 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Fawad Ahmed.

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