Perth Stadium pitch report: The SportsRush brings you the pitch report of Australia vs England 1st T20I at Optus Stadium.
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After white-washing West Indies in the T20Is, the Australian side will have a new opposition down under in England. Both sides will face each other in a 3-match T20I series with the first match being played at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
Australia have decided to rest Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa for the first T20I match. Cameron Green will get yet another opportunity, whereas the fitness of Marcus Stoinis will also be under the radar. It is a great chance for the Aussies to test their backup bowlers.
England is coming on the back of a T20I series win in Pakistan, and they are here to make their preparations stronger for the World Cup. Liam Livingstone will be missing the match, but the arrival of Jos Buttler is a huge relief for the side. The English pacer will love the conditions in Perth.
Perth Stadium pitch report
Perth’s Optus Stadium has not hosted many matches in the last couple of years. Due to Western Australia’s border restrictions due to Covid, the majority of the games were shifted from the venue. A fresh wicket will be made for this match.
Optus Stadium’s pitch will definitely have something for the pacers as there is a good amount of bounce available on this track. However, the pitch at the Optus stadium is flat, and the batters will love playing on this very wicket. The pacers can surprise the batters with short balls, but overall there are no visible demons here.
The straighter boundaries at the Optus Stadium are small, so the bowlers would not risk bowling too many fuller-length deliveries. Even the outfield is quite fast here which will also assist the batters only. The midwicket boundaries are a little bigger, and the spinners would target that area.
This ground has just hosted a single T20I between Australia and Pakistan so far in 2019. The Aussie pacers restricted Pakistan for just 106 runs, and Australia chased the target in just 11.5 overs without losing a single wicket. In 23 T20 domestic matches, the average 1st innings score has been 167 runs.
It is a general tendency to chase after winning the toss, but it has been seen at the Optus Stadium that chasing big scores has not been that easy. With all being said, a high-scoring encounter is expected as both sides have some destructive players.
