England and Australia are preparing to lock horns once again in the Ashes 2023. The second installment between the hosts and the current WTC champions goes live on June 28, 2023, at Lord’s. The first test match ended with a clean victory for the champions. Usman Khawaja helped secure a 2-wicket win with 27 balls remaining, also becoming the Player of the Match.
Now both teams will cross roads today, as per the time of drafting this article. Australia enter the arena with a higher chance of winning. So does the rainy condition. Per reports, slight rains are expected to bless the field with showers on the first, third, and fourth day. The temperature will vary between 22 degree Celsius and 24 degree Celsius. In other words, sunlight will either remain hidden behind the clouds or will have little to no impact to make things better for players on the pitch.
Pat Cummins could have his eyes on pitching Australia as the first ones to bat. Ben Stokes will look to do the same.
England are running low by 1-0 in Ashes 2023. Australia have taken the lead in the 5-test match series. Hosts have actually lost two matches this month if one includes their women’s team as well. Australia’s women’s team clinched an 89-run win by restricting England to 178 runs. That was a one-off test match and both teams will next engage in 3 T20s and 3 ODIs.
It is different for the men’s team which is scheduled to play 4 T20s against New Zealand. It will be followed by 4 ODIs.
England and Australia will meet in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 on November 04, 2023, in Ahmedabad. As for England and New Zealand, they will play the opener on October 05, 2023, of the global event that concludes on November 19, 2023.
ICC last updated test rankings on May 02, 2023. Per that table, India is leading the chart with 121 ratings. They are followed by Australia with 116 ratings. England are not far behind, standing tall in the third position with 114 ratings.
Joe Root is leading the English team as the top batter, followed by Marnus Labuschagne from Australia. James Anderson is in the second position as the best bowler, followed by the Aussie skipper in the fourth position.
Usman Khawaja led the Aussies in the first test match. He scored 141 runs in the first innings and then 65 in the second innings. Match-winning knock indeed, the focus of the English army would now be to keep his shots low and quiet. David Warner has not been in the best form. He delivered 9 runs off 27 balls and 36 runs off 57 balls in the first and second innings respectively.
The left-handed batter has a lot of fans in India and in every other country. Warner is credited with registering 8,247 runs in 191 innings of the red-ball format. His highest score is an unbeaten 335, one run more than Sir Donald Bradman and Mark Taylor to set up a record in itself.
He is not the only star player who is disappointing his fans in Ashes 2023. James Anderson is on the list too with just a single wicket in the first installment of the series. The 40-year-old bowler is nearing retirement with a pretty good score actually. He carries 686 wickets throughout 335 innings of the test matches.
It would be interesting to see both of them returning to their old self. Until then, top sites for cricket betting are inclining toward Australia for the win. Hosts have a lot to do if they want to redeem the defeat and equalize the score.
The Ashes 2023 action resumes on June 28, 2023, at 3:30 pm IST, in Lord’s.
