As Friday evening approaches, bringing with it the middle of the group stage of the T20 World Cup, the feeling grows that this is the matchup that both the English and Australian teams have been anticipating. India and Pakistan may have surpassed this rivalry in terms of intensity, ferocity, and sheer population, as evidenced by the fact that the Melbourne Cricket Ground was sold out for their group-stage match. England and Australia will not attract quite as many spectators, but their rivalry will remain the original in cricket.
The game is now even more intense, as both teams have effectively been eliminated. New Zealand has reached the finals of the last two 50-over World Cups, and the last T20 World Cup, and is the current holder of the World Test Championship.
Therefore, Australia’s loss to New Zealand cannot strictly be considered an upset. However, even these continuously successful New Zealanders have been consistently unsuccessful against Australia, so a barnstorming victory on these shores was unexpected.
Ireland’s victory against England at the MCG on Wednesday afternoon was a more real upset. The Irish victory in Bengaluru during the 2011 World Cup may be legendary, but it remains one of only two occasions they have defeated England in 50-over cricket, and the first time in T20s.
During their turn at bat, they dominated play for the first half of the innings before surrendering the upper hand. They dominated for half of the innings while bowling, but it rained before England regained control. There was luck involved in the victory, but it was facilitated by excellent play.
With only two teams able to advance to the semi-finals and New Zealand having already secured one of those spots, England and Australia each have one victory and one loss and cannot afford to lose another match.
Assuming that these three sides can handle their respective matches against Afghanistan, Ireland, and Sri Lanka – an assumption that recent results indicate should be qualified – England would be eliminated if they lose to Australia. Australia would need England to lose against New Zealand if they were to compete with England in terms of net run rate.
It is not where either team would have anticipated being a few days ago, securely positioned as the group’s top dog. However, neither has yet delivered a convincing performance.
The Australians were completely out of sorts against New Zealand, as Finn Allen’s early batting caught them off guard and they never recovered. Their massive pursuit was derailed before it even began. Against Sri Lanka, a team that appeared to be in jeopardy of losing the match on several occasions still produced several impressive individual efforts.
England, however, stuttered to a first-innings victory over Afghanistan while chasing a minor-league total of 112 and were equally overwhelmed by Ireland’s bowlers at the top of their innings in Melbourne. It was England’s position of 29-3 in the sixth over that hampered their progress to the point where they were still five runs short of the rain adjustment target when the match was called off. Earlier, their bowlers were defeated by Ireland’s top order for a score of 92-1 after 10 overs, despite Paul Stirling’s early departure.
Therefore, Australia and England in their current situation do not represent a titanic clash, but rather a contest between teams attempting to overcome adversity. This is possible in a few minutes in T20 cricket, where a single performance can spark a team’s success. Mark Wood has been a fascinating player for England, getting regular wickets while sprinting in and bowling quickly.
Ben Stokes has contributed little with the bat but has utilized the Australian pitches’ bounce to his advantage with the ball. Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone’s middle-order hitting has been prudent.
Australia, meanwhile, will hope to capitalize on the momentum generated by Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell, whose fireworks turned around Sri Lanka’s stumbling innings. Josh Hazlewood has had a fantastic couple of years bowling in the format, Mitchell Starc has appeared at ease at the first change, and Adam Zampa may have fully recovered from his sickness. Both sides have reason to be optimistic, but one side’s optimism will only endure through Friday.
