England will take on Australia in the final match of the ODI series at the Old Trafford in Manchester on Sunday. England's heroics in the last two ODIs have pushed Australia on the back foot, thereby turning this 5th ODI into a winner-takes-it-all one.
The Eoin Morgan-led side will have an edge in the decider over the unnerved Aussies after their back-to-back victories, even though Australia will be hoping for a happy ending. After gaining a 2-0 lead in the series, they have lost their grip.
It has been yet another disappointing tour of the British Isles for the Aussies. They would not want to lose this ODI series as they have already lost the Ashes 2015 and the one-off T20 as well.
Australia had started off poorly in the fourth ODI. Openers Joe Burns and Aaron Finch departed early and Australia were struggling at 30 for the loss of three wickets. At a point it looked like the visitors would find it difficult to cross the 250-mark, but thanks to the innings from George Bailey (75), Glenn Maxwell (84) and Matthew Wade (50*) that they could touch 300 runs.
After putting 300 runs on the scoreboard, the Aussie bowlers had plenty to play with. But apart from Pat Cummins, no other Australian bowler could dominate. Cummins has been outstanding so far in this series. He added four scalps to his name giving away 49 runs in the fourth ODI.
If Cummins continues with his show, he will become Australia's highest wicket taker in a five-match ODI series surpassing Clint McKay's record of 14 wickets back in 2010 against Pakistan. Australia head coach Darren Lehmann decided to rest Mitchell Starc in the fourth ODI, and it was evident how they missed their pace spearhead.
"We really wanted to come here and finish off the series and give us some breathing space for Manchester. We played it like a final, but the good thing is Sunday will be a final and we've played a lot of them and been quite successful," Cummins told reporters after the loss in the last ODI at Leeds.
Meanwhile, Morgan has been leading this upbeat English side from the front and would look to do the same in the "grand finale" as well. Morgan has been in sublime form with the willow and the England fans are hopeful that their captain will power this resurgent side to yet another ODI series victory.
"If momentum does exist then it is with us. We managed to steal a bit of it while we were in Manchester. I think confidence is a contributor to that. Going into Sunday the guys are full of confidence and we are really looking forward to it," Morgan said ahead of their final clash against Australia on Sunday at the Old Trafford.
If England manage to win the series-decider, it will be their first bilateral ODI series victory against the Aussies during an Ashes tour since 1997.
Aussie skipper Steven Smith would want Starc to play in this final ODI and he is likely to replace James Pattinson who has proven to be expensive so far. Hastings can come in handy with the bat as well, thus he is likely to retain his place. Ashton Agar might make his way back at the expense of Marcus Stoinis. On the other hand, England are likely to make only one change and that could be Steven Finn in place of Mark Wood.
Expected Lineups:
England: Jason Roy, Alex Hales, James Taylor, Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Liam Plunkett, Steven Finn.
Australia: Aaron Finch, Joe Burns, Steven Smith (capt), George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (wk), Ashton Agar, John Hastings, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins.
Where to Watch Live
The 5th ODI between England and Australia is scheduled for a 10:30 am local time (3 pm IST, 5:30 am EST and 7:30 pm Australian Time) start and the live coverage in India will be available on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports HD1. The match can be streamed live on StarSports.com and Hotstar.com.
Viewers in the UK can tune in to Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports HD 2. The live streaming option will be available on SkyGo.
Viewers in Australia can watch the 5th ODI between England and Australia on Nine Network and stream the same on Cricket.com.au.
Cricket fans in the US can switch to ESPN 3 and live stream the match on WatchEspn.
