Melbourne [Australia], October 27 (ANI): England coach Matthew Mott said that he will resist the urge to shake things up and make too many changes to his team for their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup clash against Australia in Melbourne on Friday.
Rain played a spoilsport in England’s already shaky chase, helping Ireland defeat the former champions by five runs as per Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method in the Group 1, Super 12 match of the ICC T20 World Cup at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Wednesday.
England and Australia both currently sit outside the top two spots in the log-jammed Group 1 standing and the loser on Friday will face a tough task to qualify for the knockout stages of the T20 World Cup.
But the England coach said it was business as usual for England, and he will likely field the same XI that faced Ireland against Australia unless one of his bowlers pulls up sore.
“We have played really solid cricket for the last month…we are not going throw the baby out with the bath water. It’s just business as usual as we would. We’ll go through the sessions, see who’s pulled up well and make changes. But it is very unlikely to change the structure of the team. It might be a change here or two depending on how the bowlers pulled up,” ICC.com quoted Mott as saying on Thursday.
Ben Stokes’ form has been in limelight, with the experienced all-rounder getting only one double figure in five innings since arriving in Australia earlier this month.
“He’s an incredible player for our team. He’s a real leader in our group as well, apart from the official leaders. I thought his bowling has been a real bonus for us. I think a lot of people probably underestimate his bowling coming into this tournament. And he’s been key for us. I think he’s bowled some big overs, particularly in the Powerplay. With the bat, he hasn’t come off yet. But his career would suggest that at some point someone’s going to pay a price and hopefully that’s Australia in a day’s time,” Mott said of Stokes. (ANI)
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