Australia v England predictions and Twenty20 cricket betting tips

Free cricket tips, best bets and analysis for Australia v England in the T20 World Cup on Saturday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 3pm Saturday

Best bets

Steve Smith over 20.5 runs
2pts 5-6 Hills

Dawid Malan top England runscorer
1pt 4-1 Betfair, Paddy Power

Match preview

England and Australia will face each other in five Ashes Test matches this winter but their immediate focus is on the 40 overs of their T20 World Cup clash in Dubai.

Eoin Morgan's side have had a light workload in their first two games, bowling out the West Indies for just 55 in their opener before sealing an eight-wicket win over Bangladesh with 35 balls to spare.

A tighter contest is expected against Australia, who have also won their first two group matches in the Super 12 stage, although England are clear and worthy favourites.

The Aussies nearly made a mess of their pursuit of 119 against South Africa, slipping to 81-5 and winning with just two balls remaining, but they were far more convincing against Sri Lanka last time out.

Openers David Warner (65 off 42 balls) and Aaron Finch (37 off 23) ended their lean spells although England, who took seven wickets in the powerplay overs against the Windies and Bangladesh, will fancy their chances of an early breakthrough or two.

Steve Smith struggled to nail down a place in the Delhi Capitals' 11 at the recent Indian Premier League but he has shown his value in the Australia side, scoring 35 and 57 in warm-up games against New Zealand and India and 35 and 28 not out in the first two World Cup matches.

If England's bowlers maintain their strike-rate in the powerplay overs then Smith may have to knit the innings together and he can eclipse a runs line of 20.5.

Dawid Malan, scheduled to bat at number three for England, looks a big price to top-score. The left-hander remains the ICC's top-ranked T20 batsman after 11 fifties and one century in 31 innings and he saw his side home with an unbeaten 28 against Bangladesh.

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