Cricket World Cup

Jason Behrendorff of Australia bowling as Jonny Bairstow of England backs up during the Group Stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between England and Australia at Lords on June 25, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Cricket World Cup semi-finals: Australia vs England preview

Australia finished ahead of them in the round-robin but England are still favoured to progress from their semi-final meeting in Birmingham.

Cricket World Cup

Jason Behrendorff of Australia bowling as Jonny Bairstow of England backs up during the Group Stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between England and Australia at Lords on June 25, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Australia‘s defeat to South Africa has disadvantaged them heading into the Cricket World Cup semi-finals as they must now overcome England in order to reach the final at Lord’s.

England have overcome a mid-tournament stutter and rediscovered the form that made them favourites at the outset of the Cricket World Cup.

The return of Jason Roy to partner Jonny Bairstow up front makes England so much more dangerous while Australia’s opening pair of David Warner and skipper Aaron Finch will also be key.

Warner and Finch have lit up the World Cup and their form as well as the destructive bowling of Mitchell Starc has been a big part of the push to the semi-finals.

Australia beat England in a phenomenal round-robin match but before that recent meetings between the two sides in ODI Cricket have heavily favoured the Cricket World Cup hosts.

England have the advantage of not only playing at home but of having played at Edgbaston earlier in the tournament. England beat table-topping India at the venue, the only loss inflicted on Virat Kohli’s team in the round-robin phase.

No preview of an England match would be complete without at least some discussion regarding Jofra Archer who has put to bed any suggestion that he might not be ready to step up to international cricket. Archer’s smooth action and deceptive changes of pace look set to make him England’s leading white-ball paceman and he will no doubt make the leap to Test cricket later this season.

Peter Handscomb is likely to play his first Cricket World Cup match after being called in for injured Shaun Marsh, while Glenn Maxwell’s place in the team is uncertain.

Marcus Stoinis faces a race to be fit while Matthew Wade has also been added to the squad and could feature in a struggling lower-middle order.

“He looks good,” said coach Justin Langer of Stoinis. “It was a very good net session actually, there was a bit of heat again, it was very competitive and that always brings the best out in Stoin. He did a good job today and he’s fit to go.”

Pitch Report

The Edgbaston surface has been moderate to good throughout the tournament at least from a batting point of view.

The surface has offered little assistance to the spinners and if teams can avoid losing wickets early the par score is north of 300.

Teams that have made more than 300 have been able to defend scores in Birmingham while anything under 250 has proven gettable.

Cricket World Cup Broadcast and match info

Match date: 11 July (Reserve day 12 July)
Start time: 11:30 SAST
Broadcast: Live on Supersport 2, streaming on DSTV NOW
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus
TV Umpire: Chris Gaffaney
4th Official: Aleem Dar