England and Australia will head to the Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester for the third and final match of their T20 series on Sunday afternoon.
The Three Lions pulled off an excellent run chase at Sophia Gardens on Friday night to leave the series hanging in the balance ahead of the final encounter.
Match preview
© Imago
After a somewhat underwhelming performance at the Rose Bowl in midweek, England sprung back to life in Cardiff to keep the T20 series alive, successfully chasing down a very defendable 193/6 posted by the Aussies.
Liam Livingstone showcased his all-round abilities in Wednesday's series-opener in Southampton, claiming 3/22 and smashing a brisk 37 off 27 balls, but his efforts were not enough to prevent a 28-run defeat.
On Friday, though, it was a different situation, with the 31-year-old leading his side to a three-wicket victory, scoring 87 runs in just 47 deliveries, which came after a three-over spell of 2/16 with the ball in hand.
England's stand-in skipper Phil Salt gave the side a solid foundation at the top of the innings with 32 runs off 23 balls, and Livingstone, along with newcomer Jacob Bethell put on an invaluable 90-run partnership before the latter was dismissed for 44(24).
That result has arguably swung the pendulum back in favour of the hosts, who have a fairly good record in Manchester, winning six of their nine T20 matches at the venue over the years (W7 L3 NR3).
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Meanwhile, with Mitchell Marsh missing due to illness, Jake Fraser-McGurk was brought back into Australia's lineup for the second T20I, and made the most of his opportunity, top-scoring with 50 runs of 31 balls, including four boundaries and two sixes.
The Aussies got their innings off to an excellent start and seemed to be en route to setting a target of well above 200 after Travis Head and Matt Short scored a combined 52 in the first four overs before the former was dismissed by Brydon Carse.
Following Fraser-McGurk's departure, the visitors struggled to maintain their impressive run-rate from earlier in the innings but Josh Inglis notched up an important 42(26) to get the side to a total of 193 for six.
Unfortunately for the Aussies, while Short led the way with the ball, picking up a career-best 5/22 in three overs, the rest of the bowling lineup struggled, with only Sean Abbott managing figures of note (2/37).
One of the keys to England's success was the manner in which they managed to nullify the threat of Adam Zampa, with the spinner ending wicketless, giving up 37 runs in his four-over allotment.
Team News
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One player that will be very excited to return to Manchester will be Adil Rashid, who currently has the most wickets at this venue in the T20 international format, picking up 11 scalps in eight matches.
The major selection decision for England in this final T20I will be over whether to recall Jofra Archer to the starting 11 after Carse's economical 2/26. Should both feature, it will likely mean that Reece Topley will miss out after failing to pick up a wicket in the first two games.
Australia's decision to select Aaron Hardie and Cooper Connolly for the last match was largely fruitless and we are likely to see Xavier Bartlett and Josh Hazlewood brought back into the bowling attack for the final match.
Marsh has not been ruled out of the third T20I as yet, and if he were to return, it would not come as a surprise to see the visitors retain Fraser-McGurk following his impressive innings, which could lead to Tim David being dropped after contributing just one run in two innings in this series.
England squad: Phil Salt (c), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley, John Turner
Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marcus Stoinis, Matt Short, Adam Zampa
Series so far
T20 1 of 3: Australia won by 28 runs
Australia - 179 (19.3)
England - 151 (19.2)
T20 2 of 3: England won by 3 wickets
Australia - 193/6 (20)
England - 194/7 (19)
We say: Australia to win
Australia's batting lineup put on another impressive display in the last match, but their bowlers, particularly with the new ball, were poor against the English top order and failed to make an impact during the middle overs when brought back into the attack.
England enter this match with momentum on their side, but their performance in Cardiff was still questionable at times, as they had to rely on the individual brilliance Liam Livingstone to get them over the line. If the Aussies can find their strike power with ball in hand in Manchester, we feel they will be able to edge the series.
Devesh Jaganath
