The reigning world champions in One-Day International (ODI) cricket, England, would start as favourites, when Eoin Morgan-led side lock horns with Australia in the first ODI of three-match series at The Old Trafford, Manchester on Friday. England will be boosted by the return of explosive batsman Jason Roy, who was ruled out of T20I series due to injury. Joe Denly, who was originally named in the ODI squad as a reserve, has left the bio-bubble, while T20I star Dawid Malan, who is at the top of the ICC T20 batsmen rankings, has been named as a reserve.
Meanwhile, Australia would be wary of England and need to put in 100 per cent effort to challenge the World Champions. “They are still going to be a great side for a while,” the Australia white-ball captain Finch said on the eve of the match. “It's up to us and everyone around the world to keep challenging them and play our best cricket,” he added.
Check Eng vs Aus 1st ODI match timings and live streaming details here
“You know that whenever you play England, you can't play at 90 per cent. You have to be at 100 per cent to beat them and we are excited for that challenge,” Finch said.
England vs Australia playing 11 prediction
Australia's ODI skipper Aaron Finch confirmed on the eve of the match that Alex Carey would keep wickets instead of Matthew Wade in the first ODI against England. Carey was dropped from Australia's playing 11 for the final T20I in Southampton against England, and Matthew Wade was given a chance instead of him.
"Alex will have the gloves. He has played some really good one-day cricket and he's played some really high-pressure knocks for us as well and we see him being a huge asset to that middle order," the Australian captain said.
Finch has also backed Mitchell Marsh to carry on the momentum from the third T20I against England where he was named the Player of the Match.
"If you look at Mitch's one-day record, he averages 35 with the bat and 36 with the ball, we've probably been guilty of shuffling him around to try and fit some different pieces in there at different points," Finch said.
According to forecast, there is 20 per cent chance of rainfall during the course of the game.
ENG vs AUS 1st ODI pitch report
The Manchester pitch has been true for bowling and batting as well. The pacers get the desired bounce while batsmen once settle in can play its shot.
England vs Australia match prediction
In ENG vs AUS 1st ODI, England would be favourites unless, given the way hosts played in T20I series. Australia needs some extra ordinary performance from the batmen to match World Champions fire power.
Here are the squads of both the teams:
England squad for ODIs: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
Reserves: Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Phil Salt.
Australia squad for ODIs: Aaron Finch (capt), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Daniel Sams, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.