England vs Australia: Four head to head contests

Morgan or Finch. England or Australia. We look at a few key head to head battles ahead of tonight's blockbuster.

England face Australia on Tuesday in one of the most eagerly anticipated matches at the World Cup so far.

Hosts England have lost twice, against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, while Australia are riding high after five wins out of six, with their only defeat coming against India.

Morgan v Finch – The battle of the Captains

Eoin Morgan went BANG against Afghanistan, after being dropped on 27 he then his 17 sixes (a World Record) as he raced to 148 off just 71 balls. The century, alongside his opening match 57 against South Africa book end some disappointing returns from the English captain. Morgan needs to lead the side and be positive, in both his batting and his tactical decisions, as England look to rejoin the winners list against Australia.

Morgan has also came out in pre-match press conferences to state that he won’t be asking the English crowd to not boo the Australian duo of Smith and Warner. Interestingly, it is now the English captain who has surpassed Virat Kohli as public enemy number 1 in Australian cricketing circles.

Aaron Finch, on the other hand has raced to the top of the run scorers list in ODI cricket for 2019, on the back of his 153 against Sri Lanka and a number of other substantial scores so far in the World Cup.

Finch will be looking to continue his great form and set Australia on the path to victory, and he can do that by out batting, and out captaining, his counter-part.

Warner v Archer – The top-order tussle

The return of David Warner was a contentious one throughout the Australian cricket community prior to the World Cup, however he has been on fire since ball one of the World Cup, only last night losing his place on top of the run-scorers list. With two centuries to his name, including an electric 166 off 147 balls against Bangladesh, he will be looking to continue the carnage against the old enemy.

England on the other hand, have qualified the Barbados born Jofra Archer to be their spearhead in this world cup. With his raw pace, he sits ontop alongside Mitchell Starc and Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir. Alongside Chris Woakes and Mark Wood, England suddenly have a pace attack with the firepower and ability to decapitate a top order.

Expect fireworks one way or the other at the top of the order at Lord’s.

Buttler v Maxwell - the finishers

England's Jos Buttler has overtaken Glenn Maxwell as the most destructive batsman in ODI cricket right now, with the ability to change the course of matches within a blink of an eye. Buttler scored a century in a losing cause against Pakistan earlier in the tournament, but did not get many overs against Afghanistan and was dismissed cheaply against Sri Lanka.

It is however his ability to take the game away from the opposition in the final overs that is so impressive.

Buttler’s strike rate of more than 120 runs per 100 balls is only bettered by the Victorian Glenn Maxwell, who boasts a strikerate over 124.

Maxwell has only given us an appetizer of his capability at this tournament as he has struggled to have sufficient time in the middle to decimate opposition attacks.

He smashed 46 in 25 balls against Sri Lanka and then produced an even more eye-catching knock against Bangladesh.

Coming in the 45th over, he flayed the attack for 32 off 10 balls - before he was run out he was in sight of breaking the record for the fastest one-day international fifty held by South Africa's AB de Villiers (16 balls).

Rashid v Zampa - the spinners

So far in this years World Cup, it has been the pacemen who have had the bigger impact in the seam-friendly conditions, with only South African Imran Tahir challenging in the top 10 with 10 wickets.

After a slow start to his campaign, Adil Rashid has taken five wickets in his last two matches and offers a wicket taking threat as well as the ability to contain. He currently sits behind only New Zealand’s Trent Boult for ODI wickets taken since the start of 2015, with 136.

Adam Zampa has had a disappointing tournament so far, returning figures of 5 for 236 from his four matches. Former Australia captain Allan Border has suggested that Australia’s greatest ever off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who has not yet played at the World Cup, could add attacking threat but Zampa will be keen to prove his worth on the biggest stage.