In terms of the series, this game has relatively less importance as compared to the first two matches of the series. England have won the three match series as they already lead 2-0. However in the broader picture, this game would mean a lot to both the sides as the NO.1 spot in the T20I rankings is up for grabs. England would need to beat Australia to go above them and claim the NO.1 spot, whereas Australia have to defeat England in order to retain their position at the top of the helm.
England would be relatively pleased with their performances so far in the series. They have not yet played their best cricket by far and yet managed to dig out victories in both the previous games. Australia will be heavily disappointed as they could have won both the matches but fell short in the end in both of them. However, considering the fact that they have not played cricket since March, you could cut them some slack in terms of this series.
Form guide
(last five completed matches)
England WWLWW
Australia LLWLW
Team news
England (possible) 1. Tom Banton, 2. Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3. Dawid Malan, 4. Sam Billings, 5. Moeen Ali (capt), 6. Sam Curran / Joe Denly, 7. Tom Curran, 8. Chris Jordan, 9. Adil Rashid, 10. Jofra Archer, 11. Mark Wood
Australia (probable) 1. David Warner, 2. Aaron Finch (capt), 3. Steven Smith, 4. Glenn Maxwell, 5. Marcus Stoinis, 6. Alex Carey (wk), 7. Ashton Agar, 8. Pat Cummins, 9. Mitchell Starc, 10. Kane Richardson / Josh Hazlewood, 11. Adam Zampa
Pitch and conditions
The same surface will be used for the third match running, which Malan suggested was partly in anticipation of low, spinning conditions in Asia this winter – the IPL as much as the tour of India, in the cases of players on both sides. The absent Buttler transcended those conditions in both games, but besides him, fluent run-scoring has been hard to come by. The weather is set to be dry, and for a day-night game in September, that’s all you can ask for.
The match will begin in less than an hour at Southampton and would be the final T20I before the teams begin with the ODIs at Manchester later this week.
