England and Australia will face each other in a crucial World Cup match on Friday. England have been struggling so far in the tournament, while Australia have recovered from a slow start. Both teams will be looking to win the match for different reasons. England are virtually out of the tournament, but they can still salvage something out of this game – wounded pride. After all, it’s a game against their storied rivals, Australia.
Australia, on the other hand, has dug itself out of a precarious situation but they are not yet in the safe zone by any means. They would love to puncture an already flattened England, but far more importantly they have an eye on the knockouts and cannot let up at this stage of the tournament.
Australia has suffered a major setback with the injuries to Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell. Skipper Pat Cummins is left to choose his best 11 with the 13 available.
WATCH – Rohit Sharma On India’s Chances Of Winning the World Cup: “Abhi Time Hai”
England will try their best to bounce back after a 100-run loss to India in their last encounter, but it is easier said than done. England’s dismal performance has ‘surprised’ Cummins, but he is wary of the caliber this England line-up still has.
“A little bit surprised, they’ve obviously got some class players and performed really well in these kind of tournaments over the last few years. A little bit surprised in terms of what’s gone wrong, probably not for me to say, these tournaments are pretty fickle,” said Cummins.
He added, “You see it in T20 tournaments around the world, sometimes the best-looking teams just don’t start off well and then find it hard to kind of gain ground. …they’re going to be dangerous tomorrow. You’ve got to be careful of any team with that kind of calibre of players.”
The rancorous memories of last Ashes still reside in Aussies’ hearts and Cummins would love to feed on it and get their thunder on.
ALSO READ: Ben Stokes Confirms Knee Surgery After World Cup, Expects To Be Fit For India Test Series
“That (Ashes) was a couple of months ago. It’s done. It’s a new game, new tournament. But I always think a little bit of healthy rivalry is good, especially our playing group, we’re quite a chilled, calm group, so sometimes when we get a little bit more fired up, I actually don’t think it’s too bad a thing,” said Pat Cummins.
It will be a clash between two wounded prides and it will be interesting to see which team comes out on top.
