England Aim to Build Winning Momentum Against Australia

Cardiff: England will be looking for their seventh win on the trot in one-day internationals when they take on Australia again on Thursday.

Confidence is high in the home camp after Eoin Morgan's sublime unbeaten century in the first match of five on Tuesday at Hampshire's Rose Bowl.

Andrew Strauss's squad now move to Cardiff for another 1430 BST start.

There are unlikely to be any changes to the team that beat Ricky Ponting's tourists in the opener by four wickets.

Though the Swalec Stadium has a tendency to provide slow, spin-friendly surfaces, England had already opted for both spinners, Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy, in the first game.

Eoin Morgan's wonderful match-winning century at the Rose Bowl confirmed him as the danger man in England's middle order. Ricky Ponting was unhappy with the was his bowlers fed Morgan half-volleys, but it didn't much matter where they put the ball against a man in that sort of form.

As opening batsman and fifth bowler, Shane Watson is arguably the most important man in Australia's team. He was the only one of the specialists who scored at better than a run a ball in Southampton, although his aggression also brought his downfall. If he makes another quick start, but this time capitalises, it will help to reduce the pressure on Australia's undermanned attack.

Team news

England will be reluctant to change a winning side. Michael Yardy's inclusion in might have surprised some fans but he proved a very useful bowler and should keep his place.

Squad from Andrew Strauss (C), Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Michael Yardy, James Anderson, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright, Craig Kieswetter (WK), Ajmal Shahzad

Australia could choose to pick leg-spinner Steve Smith alongside regular slow bowler Nathan Hauritz, but 19-year-old Josh Hazlewood, their tall paceman, was impressive on debut and Ponting will be tempted to keep faith with the teenager.

Squad from Ricky Ponting (C), Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Cameron White, Steven Smith, James Hopes, Nathan Hauritz, Ryan Harris, Clint McKay, Doug Bollinger, Tim Paine (WK), Josh Hazlewood

Pitch and conditions
Rather perversely, Sophia Gardens is more like an Australian home ground than an English one, quite apart from the fact that it's Welsh. Australia have played three one-day internationals in Cardiff, although they have only won one. England, on the other hand, have never finished an ODI at the venue, with both their matches having been washed out. The forecast for Thursday says there is the chance of an isolated heavy shower, so Duckworth-Lewis calculations might again be on standby.

Stats and trivia

• England's triumph in Southampton was their sixth consecutive ODI victory. If they win in Cardiff, it will be their best winning streak in ODIs since 1997-98.
• Anderson's last 10 ODIs (excluding Scotland) have yielded 22 wickets, seven in four matches against Oz and 11 in four matches against SA, two of the best teams in the world.
• Thanks to England's wash-outs in 2006 and 2008, there hasn't been an ODI result in Cardiff since Australia's infamous loss to Bangladesh in 2005.
• Ricky Ponting needs 51 runs to reach the milestone of 13,000 in one-day internationals - only Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya have achieved that mark.
• At 19 years and 165 days, Josh Hazlewood was Australia's youngest ever ODI debutant. The previous record holder was Ray Bright, who was 19 years and 260 days old when he walked out in Dunedin in 1974.

Match facts
Thursday June 24, 2010 (day/night)
Start time 14:30 local (13:30 GMT)