This is an ideal time for India to finally taste success in Australia, this summer, as they are set to lock horns with England in a virtual semi-final of the tri-series at the WACA, Perth. It is a winner takes all situation in the last league game of the series, as the winner will book a final clash with Australia.
Where to watch tri-series online live streaming
The England vs India match is scheduled for a 03:20 GMT (08:50 IST) start, with live streaming option HERE for India viewers. Star Sports network will telecast the match in India. Live score updates are available HERE, HERE and HERE. In Australia, Nine Network will telecast the match live, with live streaming option HERE. The match is also available live online HERE. Sky Sports will broadcast the game in the United Kingdom with live streaming option HERE.
When these two teams locked horns earlier in the series, England handed a thumping nine-wicket defeat to the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side. England would surely be carrying the confidence of that win and it could come handy for them.
England seamers James Anderson and Steven Finn, in particular, demolished the Indian batting line-up in helpful conditions. And, they are more than capable of repeating the feat in WACA, which has traditionally assisted the bowlers.
The Eoin Morgan-led side, after some impressive performance in the series, would be hoping to continue winning-momentum leading up to the World Cup. The English batsmen, especially the top-order, are in good touch and that could fall in their favour.
“The guys are in high spirits,” Morgan said. “Yes, we did take a lot of confidence from that game and I think that performance has been a long time coming. We’ve put in a lot of work over the last year or so with very little reward.”
“An individual performance like Steven put in was brilliant, since then Ian Bell has put out a fantastic performance,” he added. “So things are starting to come together and I think a win tomorrow would give us huge confidence and build momentum for us.”
Meanwhile, India would want to some success heading into the World Cup as their batting has failed to fire so far in the series. Opener Shikhar Dhawan, in particular, is under fire and as he has faltered miserably quite badly in the series.
India have also made changes in the batting order, like Ambati Rayudu coming in at number three, and Virat Kohli dropping down. This has, so far, hasn’t gone India’s way but with Rohit Sharma still nursing an injury, India might opt to play the same combination.
“If I am batting at 6 and I am worried before going for a big shot whether the following batsman will be able to capitalise in the last eight overs, it is not a good place to be in,” Dhoni explained. “If Virat gets a partnership going, I am there, Raina is there and we can manoeuvre the strike and capitalize.
“It is also important to look at the XI you’re playing and decide which batsman batting where will benefit the team most. So a batsman who loves to bat at a certain position will have to sacrifice,” the captain said. “By the start of World Cup we’ll have a better picture of who bats where.”
Squads: England (possible): Ian Bell, Moeen Ali, James Taylor, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Ravi Bopara, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Steven Finn.
India (possible): Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (c), Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma.
