Australia and South Africa
Australia will enter the Champions Trophy starting on February 19 without its leading fast bowlers, but his great record in ICC competitions makes him a strong contender to reach the semi -finals from Group B with South Africa. However, both these teams will get a tough challenge from England and Afghanistan. The assessment of teams included in Group B of Champions Trophy is as follows:-
Australia
deep side: Australia knows well to deal with the pressure of big competitions and that is why it has 6 titles in the ODI World Cup, one in the T20 World Cup and two titles in the Champions Trophy. This is the reason why it is considered the most dangerous team of cricket in limited overs. Australia’s batting is very strong. Batsmen like Captain Steve Smith, Travis Head, Josh English, Jake-Fraser McGark, Marnas Labushen, Glenn Maxwell are capable of turning the match dice under any circumstances.
Weak side: Australia will play their three major fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, which weakened their attack. In such a situation, its batsmen will have to take additional responsibility.
opportunity: Australia has a chance to maintain dominance in the 50 -over format and will leave no stone unturned in it. His players are adept at playing according to sports conditions and the team’s previous record will work as inspiration for him.
hazard: Australia recently lost 0–2 in the two ODI series from Sri Lanka. Labushen and McGark’s poor form will be a matter of concern for him.
South Africa
deep side: Like India, South Africa also has a variety of players. He has an aggressive batsman like Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram and Henrik Klassen and David Miller. He has a balanced bowling unit led by fast bowler Cagiso Rabada and spinner Keshav Maharaj. They should be able to deal with the circumstances.
Weak side: Despite being a strong team, South Africa could not make it to the finals of the tri -series due to recently losing in important matches to Pakistan. He has failed to win important matches on several occasions before. Apart from this, he will also miss fast bowler Enric Norcia, who has been out of the tournament due to injury.
opportunity: South Africa has a record of performing poorly in an important match. He has a very good chance to get rid of it. Danger: Australia and Afghanistan can obstruct its path. To avoid this, South Africa would need a better performance from their bowlers, which recently failed to defend a target of more than 350 against Pakistan.
England and Afghanistan
England and Afghanistan can also make it to the semi -finals, but the recent form of both teams makes them back into a strong contender race. Afghanistan’s team is entering the Champions Trophy without adequate match exercises in ODIs. At the same time, England batsmen recently were seen battling in front of spinners against India. England lost all matches in the three -match series. Except for Root and Butler, none of his batsmen were seen comfortable in front of the spin bowlers.
(Input-PTI)
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