Start time: 1030, 11/07/2019
Venue: Edgbaston
TV: Sky Sports
England are already used to playing in a high-pressure environment heading into the Cricket World Cup semi-finals and that can help them edge out Australia.
The Three Lions needed to beat India and New Zealand to get this far and came through both of those tough tests with flying colours.
Edgbaston staged the first fixture and has been a fortress for the hosts in recent years, as they will be seeking to extend a 10-match winning run in Birmingham.
We’re siding with Eoin Morgan’s men at 18/25 for our first Australia vs England prediction.
A Look At Australia’s Betting Odds
Australia can take heart from having beaten England by 64 runs at Lord’s during the round-robin stage, when the pace of Jason Behrendorff and Mitchell Starc unsettled the hosts.
However, they blew the chance to finish top of the table when beaten by South Africa at Old Trafford on Saturday and we just feel that could affect their confidence.
The men from Down Under also lost Usman Khawaja to a hamstring injury, just days after fellow batsman Shaun Marsh suffered a broken arm in the nets, while all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is struggling with a side strain.
Starc should be fine, despite aggravating his right ankle by landing awkwardly in a foothole, as he looks to add to a superb tally of 26 wickets in this tournament.
He said: “The blueprint the last time we played England was to take early wickets.
“They’ll get Jason Roy back for the fixture, so we’re going to have to discuss if we need to change anything, but I think the way we played England last time was a great blueprint moving forward.
“I think the short ball has worked to a lot of people in the World Cup. It’s definitely a plan for some guys who have got a bit of extra pace.”
Looking at the Australia vs England odds, it is worth having a saver on Starc to be his side’s top bowler at 2/1.
A Look At England’s Betting Odds
England struggled to chase a total of 285 for seven when facing Australia last month and also tasted defeat when batting second versus Pakistan and Sri Lanka during the group stage.
However, head coach Trevor Bayliss insisted the Three Lions can do it both ways at the business end of the tournament.
“Over the past four years, we have won 14 of the last 17 times we have batted second,” he declared.
“So batting second doesn’t scare our guys and the wickets are a little better now than they were earlier in the tournament. We are full of confidence and happy to be in the semi-finals.”
Bayliss felt England were still hung over from a shock loss to Sri Lanka when going down to Australia four days later, but insists they are now back on track.
He added: “After that, the boys made a commitment to going out – win, lose or draw – to play to their strengths.
“We did that in the next two games and put in good performances, so it is about sticking to our processes and how we play well.”
Jonny Bairstow hit a superb 111 against India at this venue and then another ton versus New Zealand, so 3/1 for him to top score for the Three Lions once more completes our Australia vs England betting tips.
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