England stamped their claim for World Cup favouritism by wrapping up the three-game series against Australia on Wednesday night.
England have thrived against Australia’s bowling attack in the first two encounters, so what can the hosts do to avoid a whitewash in Game 3?
Josh Nevett takes a close look at the contest with his free preview and cricket betting tips below.
Australia vs England T20 Game 3 Preview & Betting Tips
Manuka Oval, Canberra, Friday October 14th, 7:10pm (AEDT)
Squads
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
England: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
Match Preview
The second match of this quickfire three-match series provided a different narrative for an identical result, with England coming out on top by eight runs for the second game running.
A slower Canberra pitch produced lower totals, Dawid Malan guiding the visitors to 7-178 with his 82 (49). Fellow left-hander Moeen Ali also got in on the act, hitting 44 (27) in a late innings cameo after the rest of the top order failed. Those two individual efforts were enough for England to put together a winning score, as they restricted Australia to 6-170 despite some powerful hitting from Mitch Marsh (45 off 29) and Tim David (40 off 23).
Crafty medium pacer Sam Curran was the pick of the bowlers on the night, picking up 3-25 (4) while Aussies Stoinis and Adam Zampa picked up 3-34 and 2-26, respectively.
It was a surprise to see Australia fall short again considering they regained the skill and experience of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa and Mitchell Starc. Those five stars ultimately had little impact on Wednesday, an uncommon occurrence.
While the series is in the bag for England, there is still plenty to play for as the World Cup draws closer.
In the pursuit of pride and form, I think Australia can prevent a clean sweep if at least a couple of their big names fire on Friday.
Match Result: Australia to Win
$1.80
Prop Bets
I’m going back to this bet which has hit more often than not in recent times. Finch is still a man out of form, and I’m not convinced that a return to the top of the order helps his scoring potential. After all, the swinging ball has been known to expose his technical and mental deficiencies. Finch scored just 13 on Wednesday.
Aaron Finch Under 19.5 Runs ($1.83 Ladbrokes)
This market pips two quality leg spinners against each other. Zampa took two wickets on Wednesday and look dangerous as always. He loves playing in home conditions and is one of the best white ball spinners in the world. On the other hand, Rashid has struggled since landing on Australian shores, and was hit for 38 runs off his four overs on Wednesday.
Zampa vs Rashid Wickets – Zampa ($2.50 Ladbrokes)
