Australia vs. England ODI Tri-Series: Date, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview
Australia and England meet in Hobart for the fourth match of the Carlton Mid One-Day International Tri-Series on Friday with both teams looking to take another step toward the competition's final.
Venue: Bellerive Oval, Hobart
Date: Friday, Jan. 23
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Start Time: 3:20 a.m. GMT/2:20 p.m. local
Live On: Nine Network (Australia), STAR Sports (India), Orbit Show Network (Middle East), PTV Sports (Pakistan), SuperSport (South Africa), Sky Sports (United Kingdom), Sky Sport (New Zealand)
Live Stream: Sky Go (United Kingdom)
Weather: The Weather Channel is forecasting a mild and partly cloudy day that will reach 23 degrees Celsius during the afternoon.
Overview
When these two teams last met, it was Australia who handed out a thrashing. As they prepare to face each other again, it's England who are fresh from doing the same to India.
For Eoin Morgan's men, Tuesday's crushing of MS Dhoni's side represented quite a turnaround. But excelling against an Indian side incapacitated by a bouncy Brisbane pitch is one thing; toppling Australia in their own backyard has proved quite another for England.
Indeed, England have lost six of their last seven one-day internationals against the Australians. More worryingly, they've lost 25 of their last 32 when playing them on Australian soil dating back to 1999.
Though Tuesday's victory will have undoubtedly given the English a timely boost of confidence, there's still a vast gulf between these sides that England need to close. Fast.
Morgan's team will hope that a week of scrutiny might distract the hosts, who've been busy defending their on-field approach after David Warner was fined for his altercation with India's Rohit Sharma in Melbourne last week, per ESPN Cricinfo. Also a lift for the visitors is the news that Warner has been rested for Friday's clash in Hobart, which will give England's attack some respite from his irrepressible run of form.
Stand-in captain George Bailey will also be missing from this clash after being suspended for his team's slow over-rate at the MCG. Steve Smith, who deputised impressively for Michael Clarke during the recent Test series against India, will take over the leadership role.
Australia, of course, will feel confident that the pair's replacements in Shaun Marsh and Cameron White can fill the void; England will feel this is an opportunity to steal a victory from a weakened outfit.
But the greater task still faces the visitors, who've shown time and time again that they struggle to go punch for punch with Australia in this format.
Squads
Australia
Steven Smith (c), Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson, Cameron White, Glenn Maxwell, Brad Haddin (wk), James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Gurinder Sandhu, Xavier Doherty
England
Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Joe Root, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes
Form Lines (most recent first)
Australia - WWWWWL
England - WLLLWL
Players to Watch
Australia
New South Welshman Gurinder Sandhu made his debut against India in Melbourne last week after rapidly rising through the ranks on the Australian domestic scene.
Born in Australia to Indian parents, the tall right-armer is the sort of bowler who can give this Australian attack a different dynamic, standing in contrast to speedsters such as Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and Pat Cummins.
Indeed, his accuracy and capacity to swing the ball both ways could be valuable assets to Clarke, Bailey or Smith (whoever ends up leading the nation through the World Cup), particularly given that his height presents the added problem of uncomfortable bounce.
Though still likely to be on the fringes of the team during the World Cup, impressive performances in this series from Sandhu could see him force his way into the team for the approaching global tournament.
England
It's hoped that Steven Finn's impressive haul of 5 for 33 against India on Tuesday represents a turning point for the troubled English seamer. Finn himself certainly believes it does, per BBC Sport.
But it also needs to be remembered that dismissing Indian batsmen on a bouncy surface in Brisbane should be the bread and butter of a tall fast bowler like Finn—sterner tests await the 25-year-old.
The first of those tests will arrive on Friday as Finn and England resume their tussle with the Australians, who dealt with the Middlesex speedster in brutal fashion in the series opener in Sydney.
And while Warner won't be there to dish out the punishment, one senses the hosts will target Finn with the intention of bringing him thumping back to earth.
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