Arch-rivals England and Australia will lock horns in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Rose Bowl in Southampton today. The visitors were recently involved in a three-match T20I series against Scotland and are coming off a 3-0 series win while England are playing T20Is for the first time since the World Cup in June.
They will miss their regular skipper Jos Buttler who sustained a calf injury with Phil Salt standing in for him as captain. The hosts have also announced their playing XI handing debuts to three players - Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton and Jordan Cox. It is a new-look T20I side for England as they build for the next T20 World Cup two years later.
Meanwhile, Australia have continued with Mitchell Marsh as skipper even as they will also miss their gun players in Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Glenn Maxwell. But this is a great opportunity for players like Matthew Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk and bowlers like Xavier Bartlett and Riley Meredith to cement their place in the side.
ENG vs AUS Pitch Report
The surface at the Rose Bowl in Southampton should be good for batting as there was no grass on the pitch on the eve of the match. 165 is the average score in all T20Is played at this venue while 11 out of 16 matches played here have been won by teams batting first. Expect high scores in this encounter too with some of the fiercest hitters in T20 cricket taking the field.
ENG vs AUS Probable Playing XIs
England (Playing XI): Philip Salt(w/c), Will Jacks, Jordan Cox, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, Reece Topley
Australia: Travis Head, Jake Fraser-McGurk/Matt Short, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Josh Inglis (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green, Tim David, Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
My Dream11 Team for ENG vs AUS 1st T20I
Wicketkeeper - Phil Salt (VC)
Batters - Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head (C), Liam Livingstone
All-Rounders - Marcus Stoinis, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Cameron Green
Bowlers - Adam Zampa, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer