England look to maintain winning momentum against Australia in fifth ODI
England will be looking forward to continue winning matches against Australia in the ongoing seven-match one-day International (ODI) series. The fifth match of the series will be played at Brisbane on 30 January, and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 leads the series by a 3-1 margin.
The match will also be a fund-raiser for the flood victims in Brisbane. The city was badly hit by one of the most severe floods in the country’s history, and it was doubtful whether the match would actually go ahead, following the damage caused to the venue
by the floods. However, the organisers managed to prepare the stadium in time for the fifth match of the series.
Every match will be important for the visitors as Australia requires only one victory in order to take the series. There will be a lot of pressure on England going into the game, but a win in the next match should ease some of that pressure.
The team performed very well in all departments in the last game. Their batsmen needed some runs at the top of the order and that was exactly what Matt Prior and Jonathan Trott provided.
Prior was brought into the team in place of young wicketkeeper, Steve Davies who had a relatively good match in the series opener. However, Prior disappointed his team on his return to the ODI team, as he scored two ducks in his first two comeback games.
However, the veteran wicketkeeper had the mental strength to bounce back, as he scored a brilliant fifty in the fourth game. Apart from Prior - the first-drop for England - Trott has also been in superb form and has scored consistently in the series so far.
The main concern for England though, will be their middle-order.
Players like Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan and Luke Wright have been very inconsistent. They need to build on the starts they get in order to win matches for their team.
The bowlers did a good job in the last match for England. The return of James Anderson in the team seems to have boosted the morale of the players. The part-time bowlers have also chipped in to provide crucial breakthroughs to the team.
On the other hand, the Australian team has been consistent in the ODI series until now. The opening pair of Shane Watson and Brad Haddin has worked well for the Aussies and the pair has been able to provide good starts to the team.
The main concern for the hosts has been the poor form of stand-in captain Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120. The Australian middle-order has also been a bit inconsistent. There have been a few good knocks from the players here and there but no-one has been really consistent
like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326.
The last match saw some good performance from the lower-middle order when Brett Lee and Steve Smith scored some quick runs in the later stages of the match.
Compared to the English team, the Australian bowling has looked a bit more threatening. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lee-c72382 has been bowling well on his return to the team, and the spinners have also played their part by chipping in with wickets.
Even though England won the last match, the Kangaroos will be the favourites in the fifth ODI. They will be confident of a good show and will look forward to take maximum advantage of the pressure they have exerted on the visitors in the series so far.
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