India and England will know nothing but a win will do when the two teams meet in the final match of the league phase of the tri-series on Friday at the WACA.
Match 6 of the tri-series promises to be a humdinger of a contest with both teams needing a win to make it to the final where they will face Australia at the same ground in Perth on Sunday.
The fact that this match is a virtual semifinal should wake India up a little, with MS Dhoni's team so far way below par in this tournament.
The batsmen haven't come to the party, while the bowlers have been decent, but not quite good enough to trouble the batsmen enough.
A good performance from the bowlers will always be considered as a bonus, though, with India's obvious strengths lying in their batting.
The Men in Blue haven't got a great start yet, owing largely to the fact that Shikhar Dhawan has apparently forgotten the art of batting. The left-hander keeps getting out in similar fashion time and again, and even if the right thing to do is to keep faith in him, there is only so much rope that you can give.
Dhawan needs a couple of really good innings, and what better place than to do it at the fastest pitch in Australia, killing two birds with one stone in the process by getting himself back to form and showing his critics he can bat on bouncy, pacey wickets.
"The openers are not a big concern," said skipper Dhoni. "More than the top order, in middle order we have lost quick wickets and that hampers the team's plans. You don't want wickets to fall in pairs if openers don't fire. We'll have to see to that."
Keeping wickets in hand will be key, feels Dhoni who knows the importance of his batting lineup doing the bulk of the work in an ODI match for India.
"It is important to put runs on the board and defend them, and we haven't been able to do that," Dhoni added.
"We have had partnerships going but we haven't been able to capitalize on them. Wickets in hand going into the death overs is something we like to have and it's a part of our strategy. We'd like to do that going further."
England have had a couple of decent matches going into this must-win encounter. They thrashed India in their last match against each other, bundling them out for little to nothing before easily chasing down the runs.
Their last game against Australia was encouraging in the fact that they could get to a score over 300, even if their bowlers could not quite manage to defend it.
Confidence will clearly be high in the England squad, and India cannot afford another off day like the one at the Gabba ten days ago.
"The guys are in high spirits," said England captain Eoin Morgan. "Yes, we did take a lot of confidence from that game [the nine-wicket win over India] and I think that performance has been a long time coming. We've put in a lot of work over the last year or so with very little reward.
"I think it is important to win this game given the lack of success we've had before this tour. We've built a confidence in our preparation, in the game in Brisbane and in performances leading into the start of this series.
"So, as momentum and confidence goes, I think it's quite a big game."
Where to Watch Live
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India vs England is scheduled for a 2.20 pm AEDT (8.50 am IST, 3.20 am GMT) start with live coverage in India on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3 (in Hindi) and Star Sports HD1. Viewers in India can also catch the match via free live streaming online on Starsports.com or via the Starsports Live Pro option.
Watch the crucial Match of the Tri-Series live in Australia on Channel 9, while the option to live stream the match is on Cricket Australia Live or the Cricket Australia Live App. Audience in the UK can catch England take on India live on Sky Sports 2 or via live streaming on Sky Go or Watch Sky Sports.
The must-win game can be watched live by viewers in the US on Willow TV, while it can also be live streamed on Willow TV Online. Audience in the Middle East and North Africa can catch the tri-series ODI match 6 live on OSN with the live stream option on OSN Play.
Team news: India: Rohit Sharma went through a few fitness drills over the last couple of days, but India are not ready to take a risk on the opener as he recovers from a tight hamstring. With the pitch expected to aid the faster bowler, Stuart Binny will expect to keep his place in the team, meaning a similar lineup to the one that was put out in the washout against Australia can be expected.
England: With the team looking quite good, too many changes are not expected, barring a late injury.
Lineups: India: Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Stuart Binny, Akshar Patel, R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma.
England: Ian Bell, Moeen Ali, James Taylor, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Ravi Bopara, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Steven Finn.
