The oldest rivalry in cricket resumes in the limited-overs format

The latest World T20I champions, England, take on the runners up, the Aussies, in the first of the 5 ODIs in Southampton.

England have come a long way since their 1-6 thrashing by Australia last year and their heart-breaking elimination from the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 in the semi-finals by the same opposition. Not only have they been crowned as the World T20I Champions, but they have also beaten South Africa 2-1 in the latter’s courtyard, beaten Bangladesh 3-0 as visitors and just recently a less-formidable Scotland which was more of a preparatory game for this contest against arch-rivals Australia. This is one of the best squad England can have on paper. Craig Kieswetter, the revelation for the poms in the World T20 comes in at the top of the batting to open with Andrew Strauss. Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan make up for a strong middle-order. They English bat deep; they have batsmen capable of scoring runs till number 9. The bowling is good as well - 4 seam bowlers and 2 promising spinners make up for at least 5 specialist bowlers if one would consider Michael Yardy as a part-timer. Add to this, the home-advantage.

Team Australia have dominated the cricketing world for quite some time now but just recently they have had to face stiff challenges from teams like India, South Africa and England. Their contest with their arch-rivals is going to be a very difficult one as the opposition has a very good side in place. However, they have quite a few match-winners in their own right. Shane Watson is one of the most feared openers but Tim Paine, a replacement for the injured  Brad Haddin, might be the man to watch out for, he plays the sheet-anchor role in contrast to Watson’s approach. He might come down the order if the Aussies include Shaun Marsh in the side. James Hopes is an interesting all-round option but Mitchell Johnson’s injury will be a worry and if he is unfit, the 19-year old Josh Hazlewood might get a chance to bag his first baggie-green.

On paper, England look a slightly better side because of an envious middle-order. They have the home-advantage too but just as everybody knows and so do they, beating the numero-uno ODI team will be more than difficult.