Cricket

Australia v England: Fifth ODI Preview

by
Jason Dewey
January 27, 2018

Batsman faces bowler in front of packed cordon

We preview the fifth and final ODI between Australia and England to take place at Perth Stadium on Sunday morning.

Having lost the series but avoided a whitewash, the Aussies
can now aim to close the scoreline to a respectable three-two at a venue that
will make its international debut.

England have an awful top-order collapse to recover from
and, with the opportunity to blank the Aussies five-nil wasted, might use
Sunday’s clash get their bench warmers some game time.

Australia v England | Sunday, 28 January | Perth Stadium |
5:20

To Win Match

Australia 72/100 | Tie 35/1 | England 23/20

Australia

After testing a couple of seam-bowling combinations across
the bulk of the series, the Aussies seem to have finally found the right one –
and this will probably mean Jhye Richardson and Mitchell Starc won’t play in
Perth.

Regardless of the composition, the attack would like to
replicate their performance in the fourth ODI – and then follow through. Having
reduced the English to eight for five, the hosts shouldn’t have conceded a
total of 196.

Travis Head proved a handy opener in the absence of Aaron
Finch at the Adelaide Oval, so there’s no real reason this shouldn’t continue,
even if Finch is available after recovering from injury.

It would be nice to see Glenn Maxwell selected. A late
addition to the squad, he has a point to prove to a few doubters, including
Steven Smith and Ricky Ponting, who were rather public with their criticism of
Maxwell’s motivation recently.

The Perth Stadium is brand new cricket – and will welcome a
belated arrival after missing the chance to host the third Ashes Test. A hard,
flat deck is expected – and therefore a high score from the team who bats
first.

England

The visitors will, of course, want to make this four-one –
and keep their momentum going ahead of the T20I tri-series against the Aussies
and New Zealand next month. Can they bounce back from Adelaide’s inadequacies,
though?

A score bordering on 200 was never going to be enough to
defend, even if they did recover from the loss of five very early wickets. They
might want to throw Sam Billings or Dawid Malan into the middle order for good
measure.

On a bowling front, they won’t likely send down as many as
19 overs of spin – as witnessed on Friday – 48 hours later. The Perth pitch
will warrant more from Tom Curran, who bowled just two overs in the fourth ODI.

Pressure remains on Moeen Ali, who still hasn’t scored a
half-century or managed anything significant with the ball this entire tour.
Again, he shouldn’t be dropped – and could be in for a particularly intriguing
tussle with Pat Cummins.

England must practise their defence and attack to the slower
ball in the lead-up to this final fixture. Andrew Tye used his trademark
‘knuckle’ delivery to near perfection in Adelaide, with more variations
anticipated in Perth.

Verdict: Australia 72/100

The home side are tipped to follow up their Australia Day
triumph with another, especially if Maxwell cracks the nod and really tucks
into a tiring opposition pace attack.

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