2nd Semi-final – England v Australia

Ground – Edgbaston

Date and scheduled start – Thursday 11th July at 10.30am

Weather – Dry with light cloud, maybe showers by late afternoon. Please note that two days have been set aside for this match.

Exchange win odds – England 1.75, Australia 2.30

Australia form at Edgbaston – No matches played at this ground

England form at Edgbaston – 1 win from 1 match (India)

Head to head form in the tournament – Australia defeated England by 64 runs at Lords

Recent head to head form – 5 ODI series played as part of Australia tour of England in 2018. England won 5-0.

Well the big day has arrived and we have (obviously!) two potential outcomes. Will we have a repeat of the all-Antipodean World Cup final of 2015 or will England start to fulfil their undoubted ability with a place in the final at Lords on Sunday.

The match odds have England as warmish favourites at 1.75 and this might appear strange given Australia’s comprehensive outpointing of the home team earlier on in the tournament.

However, one could counter that by saying England have improved since then and have recovered their mojo with Roy back to open the innings.

It is certainly impossible to deny that Australia have outperformed their opening odds in this tournament and have a tremendous spirit, highlighted in their match against South Africa where they did not play well but almost snatched a most improbable victory out of the fire. In Matthew Wade and Mitchell Starc they have two very potent weapons. To counter this, England have a very strong batting line-up and, in Roy and Bairstow, they have an opening partnership that can destroy a bowling attack.

There are so many variables when looking at this match, not least the toss, that I cannot come up with a good case for a match bet.

However, I do think there is some value in the top batsman market and this will be provided in the blog bet.