As Friday evening approaches, bringing on the middle of the T20 World Cup group stage, the sense increases that this is the contest that both the English and Australian teams have been waiting for. India and Pakistan may have surpassed this rivalry for freneticism, ferocity, and sheer population, as shown by the crowd of more than 90,000 that sold out the Melbourne Cricket Ground for their own group stage bout. England and Australia won’t get quite that many through the gates, but their rivalry will always be cricket’s original.
The game is now even spicier, though, by effectively becoming an early knockout for both teams. Australia’s loss to New Zealand can’t strictly be classed as an upset – the Kiwis have made the finals of the last two 50-over World Cups, the last T20 World Cup, and are current holders of the World Test Championship. But even these consistently successful New Zealanders have still been consistently poor when meeting Australia, so a barnstorming win on these shores was a surprise.
