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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Dean Wilson

England in red-hot form ahead of T20 World Cup despite being denied Australia clean sweep

Not even a washout in Canberra could dampen England's red-hot form heading into a T20 World Cup that is there for the taking.

Unbeaten in five games and with two series wins under their belts England have put the rest of the world on notice that their summer blip against India and South Africa is well and truly behind them.

They have also shown that the job of defending a total rather than chasing one down is one they can do rather well which is essential during a possible seven match tournament. This was a rain-shortened 12 over thrash that was eventually abandoned just 3.5 overs into Australia's attempt to chase down 130 and spluttering to 30-3.

And as good as the results have been, it is the individual successes of so many players in Pakistan and now Australia that makes this England side such a dangerous tournament proposition. A classic example being how the resurgent Chris Woakes managed to walk away with the astonishing figures of 3-4 from the two overs he bowled.

Presenting a beautifully upright seam in conditions that might become a feature of the tournament thanks to the cool wet La Niña weather system that is in operation, Woakes was even on a hat-trick with his third ball.

"It was a bit of a shock to me as well," he said. "You never expect your first over to go like that to be honest. The conditions were quite nice to bowl in with the ball swinging around and hopefully I've shown enough that can give me the nod."

Such is his wicket-taking quality with the new ball, Woakes has to be inked in for the Afghanistan opener next Saturday even if the competition for places in the bowling department is fierce. Sam Curran and Chris Jordan both missed out on Friday despite being England's two best death bowlers.

David Willey could struggle to find a spot, while Woakes, Jordan and Reece Topley are fighting to join Mark Wood in the first choice side. At the other end of the team things are a little more settled with Jos Buttler hitting 65 not out and even though it was only 17 not out, Ben Stokes struck a powerful six that might be a sign of things to come.

Stokes' all round contribution to the side is too great for him not to play, but with Liam Livingstone all but ready to return, someone is going to be hugely disappointed. Skipper Jos Buttler admitted: "Ben Stokes is a superstar of the game in any format.

"He hasn't played much T20 recently, but that's OK. He can affect the game with bat, ball and in the field. He's someone you want in your team. I hope we can go all the way in the World Cup. We have a good thing going. It will be good fun and we are looking forward to it."

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