Australia eye series win as the caravan moves to Sydney

Even before the players have fully hit the refresh button following the conclusion of the T20 world cup, Australia and England will be bracing themselves for the second contest in less than 48 hours, having already travelled from Adelaide to Sydney.

Jos Buttler has admitted in as many words that as much as he would like to bring back the regulars from the T20 world cup, who were rested for the first game - Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid, he isn't sure how many of them would be fully rejuvenated for what could decide the fate of the series with Australia already having clinched the first encounter.

The Pat Cummins-led side, who put up a clinical performance in the first ODI, with the top three scoring fifties against England's second string attack, have an opportunity to clinch the three-match series even before England find themselves in a position to put their best available XI on the field.

With the contest set to be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the spinners are expected to have a good role to play, which would possibly entice England to bring back the duo of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali into the team while Australia persist with Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa.

When: Friday, November 18, 2022, 2:20 PM (Local Time), 8:50 AM IST

Where: Australia vs England, Sydney Cricket Ground

What to expect: The pitches at SCG were fairly slow and assisted turners in the recently-concluded world cup. The conditions are expected to be cloudy with temperatures around the 20 degree mark.

Team News:

Australia: Australia might continue to play two spinners. However, they could rest one of their fast bowlers and bring Josh Hazlewood back into the XI. However, with Australia having an opportunity to clinch the series, they may want to keep their best XI.

Likely XI: David Warner, Travis Head, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschgne, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

England: Even as England lost the first game and Jos Buttler said there would be changes to the XI, it remains uncertain how many of the T20 world cup regulars would be refreshed again.

Likely XI: Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Dawid Malan, James Vince, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Olly Stone

What they said:

"There will be changes (to the XI). Let's see how the senior guys are feeling then, or there's always a chance to give some others a game and add to that huge talent pool that's served us so well." - Jos Buttler, England captain

"We've got plenty of Test cricket coming up, to see Smith play like this was really pleasing. He's been putting in a lot of effort in the nets" - Pat Cummins, Australia captain