Super Sixes SRL | IND vs ENG - Preview, Form Guide, Predicted XI, Key Players

BySportsbet.io, SportsCafe Editor

06/05/2020

India and England will lock horns with each other for the second time this month in the SRL, after the teams’ high-scoring, heated battle on June 1 which saw India come out on top. However, coming on the back of back-to-back defeats, today, the pressure will well and truly be on the Men in Blue.

Form Guide

India - L L W W L

Seeing more ‘L’s’ to India’s name as compared to ‘W’s’ is pretty rare, but such has been their run of form in this SRL so far. Virat Kohli’s men, of late, have struggled to string two wins together and currently, they are in deep waters, having lost their last two encounters against Australia and Pakistan respectively. They would desperately be hoping not to make it a hat trick of losses.

England - W L L L W

England have had an almost-identical run to that of India in their last five SRL encounters, registering more losses than wins. The Three Lions, just like their counterparts, have struggled to find fluidity and consistency and have often been guilty of throwing games away without a fight. They would, however, be hoping to carry forward the momentum they gathered in their encounter on Thursday against Pakistan and put up a similar showing against the Men in Blue.

Game Day Watch

Thursday was as disappointing a day as it could get for team India, as they were convincingly outclassed by a rigid Australian outfit. After scoring 177 in the first innings, thanks to a Rishabh Pant blitz, India were punched to submission by the Kangaroos, who chased down the target with two balls to spare.

In Stark contrast, England had a field day at the office in their last encounter against Pakistan. After restricting Pakistan to just 152 in the first innings, fine batting from the experienced duo of Joe Root and Eoin Morgan ensured that the Three Lions got home in just the 18th over.

Key Batsmen

Rohit Sharma

Albeit not setting the stage on fire with explosive batting, Rohit Sharma has been India’s most consistent and reliable batsman in the month of June and has shown signs aplenty that a big score might be around the corner. With two 40+ scores in his last three encounters, including a fifty against England in the two sides’ last H2H clash, the right-hander will hold the key to turn India’s fortunes around and it's almost unsurprising why sportsbet.io also feels the same.

Jos Buttler

A promotion to the top of the order for Jos Buttler in international cricket has not materialized as much as fans would have liked, but nevertheless, he has showed glimpses of his brilliance in this SRL. His unbeaten 78 against Australia a couple of days ago helped England pull off an impossible heist and in the last H2H clash versus India, he tormented the bowlers, scoring at an exceptional strike rate of 185. Sportsbet.io certainly thinks that Buttler would be the clear favorite to top score for England today.

Key Bowlers

Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja, with his immaculate accuracy, has choked teams in the middle overs in this SRL and this has been a key component for India winning matches. His performance against Australia on Thursday - where he finished with figures of 3-0-15-1 - was a timely reminder of how effective a weapon he could be in limited-overs cricket and with the English batsmen not particularly great against spin bowling, the left-armer would be hoping to bust them open in the middle.

Mark Wood

Consistency is not something you would associate with Mark Wood but the pacer has shown impeccable control so far this month, almost re-emerging as a completely new ‘Wood’. His probing spell of 2/28 versus Pakistan helped his side snap the losing streak and today, he has a golden opportunity presented to him to make it two wins in a row for the Three Lions. The Indians will not enjoy his express pace, that’s for sure.

When to watch: June 5, 2020, 1.45 PM

Where to watch:SportsCafe and Sportsbet.io

Predicted XIs

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

England: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(C), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood