England will be looking to carry the momentum from their victory in the third One Day International as they attempt to square the series in the fourth ODI at Leeds on Friday night. Australia still leads 2-1 and are just one win away from clinching an unbeatable lead in the five-match series.
The hosts come into the match on the back of a 93-run victory and should feel confident of being able to match it with the World Champions. Steve Smith must be smarting from the loss and will be eager to bounce back straight away.
England were lucky with the toss on a turning pitch at Old Trafford. After James Taylor held the innings together with a patient century, spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali spun a web around the Aussie batsmen. More than the magnitude of the win, the match kept England in the hunt for the series.
Eoin Morgan continued his good form with the bat and remains the most important batsman for his side. There were calls for inclusion of David Willey for the third ODI but the hosts resisted. It remains to be seen if Willey will be brought in to provide variety in the seam attack.
Australia missed key personnel for the third match and were pulled back by a superlative England effort. Smith is still waiting for meaningful contributions from his top order. The return of Aaron Finch should comfort Smith as the burly opener looked good in the third ODI until his dismissal.
Bowling isn’t a major worry although key strike weapon Mitchell Starc is nowhere close to his World Cup best. Pat Cummins has proved to be more than handful with his thunderbolts but will require support to keep England to a manageable total.
The series has so far seen teams batting first score in excess of 300 and winning the match comfortably. England will try to stretch the series to the decider and are offered odds of $2.14 at Sportsbet to do so.
James Taylor (pictured) has been the most consistent batsman for England and should continue to score the runs for the hosts. At odds of $5.00 at CrownBet, the in-form Taylor is a good bet to be England’s best batsman.
Aaron Finch is important for Smith at the top of the order. He looked good in the third ODI on his return from an injury break. Odds of $5.00 at Unibet look attractive for him to lead the Australian run scoring.
This should be a spirited match as the result will either mean Australia clench the series, or we’ll be going to a decider!
