England vs Australia 1st ODI Prediction and Series Preview

By winning the last of the 3-match T20 series, Australia managed to stay on top of the ICC rankings for the format. However, the ODI format still belongs to world champions England, with Australia in a mediocre 5th - and that’s what’s coming up next. While England has played 3 ODIs since the resumption of cricket, Australia haven’t played an ODI since they defeated New Zealand on March 13 and might be a little rusty. Nevertheless, it’s never realistic to rule Australia out, and the men from down under will surely be putting up a strong fight against their oldest rivals. Before the two begin their fight at the Old Trafford, let’s take a look at what the series has to offer.

England Squad, Form, and Team Preview

With arguably the strongest squad they’ve ever had at their disposal, England will be looking to make winning a regular and more consistent affair. There’s a lot of talent, but they seem to get carried away by it and suffering almost due to complacency. Among individual players, a lot will be expected of Eoin Morgan, who not only has the best average against Australia in the current England team but also has the second-highest runs at this ground after Graham Gooch.

Announced Squad:

Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Australia Squad, Form, and Team Preview

With their last ODI series win taking place in March 2019, Australia are a far cry from the dominating force they once were. Despite brimming with talent, they just haven’t shown either the consistency or the hunger that’s expected from them. That being said, the stats are somewhat unfair, as they haven’t played a single home ODI series in that time. The one they did start was shut down because of COVID-19, and they were leading New Zealand 1-0. A large part of Australia’s hopes will probably lie with Captain Aaron Finch, who averages 50 against England.

Announced Squad:
Aaron Finch (c), Pat Cummins, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

ENG vs AUS Head-to-Head

Australia have historically beaten England 82 times against 62 losses, with 2 ties in the mix. However, they haven’t won a series against them in 5 years now. On the other hand, having beaten Australia 4 out of the last 5 times these teams met, including in the World Cup semifinal, England will certainly fancy their chances. With Old Trafford yielding plenty of high scores in recent years, this might turn out to be a cracking competition that goes right down to the wire.

Who will win the 1st ODI?

Match Prediction: England To Win (1.80 @ 1XBET)

First Match Betting Tips:

• Toss - ENG

• ENG top batsman – E Morgan

• PAK top batsman – M Labuschagne

• Players to score most boundaries - E Morgan (ENG), M Labuschagne (AUS)

• Players to score a century - E Morgan (ENG), M Labuschagne (AUS)

• Players to score a fifty – J Roy/E Morgan (ENG), M Labuschagne/S Smith (AUS)

• Players to take most wickets - A Rashid (ENG), J Hazlewood (AUS) 

• Most fours - AUS

• Most sixes - ENG 

Can England Keep up their unbeaten streak since 2018 intact? Or will the Aussies write a new chapter in crashing their rivals’ hopes? Find out starting Friday!