Australia vs England

The five-time World Cup winners and defending Champions, Australia has set a very high record in the tournament and will look forward to defend the title once again. The team finished their league stage at the second position of the points table with 14 points and will encounter England in the second semi-finals of the World Cup. Let’s have a look at the key players.

 1. Mitchell Starc- Mitchell Starc who played a major role in Australia’s 2015 World Cup triumph will once again look forward to rewrite the history. He is the highest wicket taker in the tournament so far and has claimed 26 wickets in only nine matches of the World Cup. He is definitely the team’s most reliable bowler and provides a balance in their bowling with his ability to claim crucial wickets as well as maintain the economy. He has claimed two five-wicket haul in the tournament so far and has won important games for the team.



2. David Warner- This Australian opening batsman is only 10 runs away from being the leading run scorer in the tournament. Rohit has smashed 648 runs in the tournament, whereas Warner claimed the number two spot by scoring 638 runs. However, Warner has a great chance to surpass the Indian opener; India ended their World Cup campaign with a defeat against the Black Caps in the semi-finals of the tournament. He has smashed three centuries in the tournament so far and will look forward to register a high score against the hosts, today.

The Ashes rivals meet in Birmingham on Thursday with England aiming to keep their hopes of winning a first-ever World Cup alive and Australia going for a sixth title. Australia are the most successful team in the history of the competition and have won their past four World Cup meetings with England, but Vaughan still expects Eoin Morgan’s side to progress to the final. If England beat Australia, they will face either India or New Zealand at Lord’s in Sunday’s final.


England and Australia are set to go head-to-head in the Cricket World Cup semi-final, with the match expected to add a thrilling chapter to one of sport's most notorious rivalries.

Eoin Morgan's men will be looking to prove a point on Thursday after already losing to the Australians earlier in the tournament.

The winners will play whoever comes out on top between India and New Zealand at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

As England and Australia prepare themselves to fight for a place in the final, Sky News takes a look at the statistics to help predict who might have the edge.

Most runs

England has scored a total of 2,254 runs compared to Australia's 2,084.

But Australia has two of the top five run-scorers in the tournament, whereas England has none.

The Aussies' left-handed batsman David Warner has scored the second-most runs of the tournament so far with 638, with only India's Rohit Sharma having scored more with 647.

Australia's Aaron Finch is in fifth position with 507 runs, while England's highest scoring batsman Joe Root is in sixth place with 500.

England's Jonny Bairstow is in eighth place with 462 runs while his teammate Ben Stokes is in eleventh place on 381 runs.

Jason Roy sits in fifteenth place overall for England with 341 runs, ahead of Australia's Alex Carey on 329.

England captain Eoin Morgan is in eighteenth place with 317 runs, just one more than Australia's Usman Khawaja who has 316.

Morgan's side has five batsman in the top 20 with a combined total of 2,001 runs, compared to the 1,790 scored by the four Australians.

The numbers appear to suggest England is the stronger side in this area, but Warner and Finch look likely to cause them problems.