Cricket / Andy Morris / 05 July 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

After winning the last two of the five-match series against England on Saturday, Andy Morris sees Australia taking plenty of confidence into the Twenty20 internationals against Pakistan.

After the disappointment of the first two ODIs, at Southampton and Cardiff, where Australia were beaten by four wickets, things turned around, and now morale will be high.

Australia lost only narrowly, in the final over in game three at Old Trafford, then had comfortable wins in the final two games.

Fair enough, the series had already been lost, but the batting performances in both games showed that Australia remain a formidable team.

At Lord's, Tim Paine and Shaun Marsh both hit excellent half centuries, with Marsh reaching 59 from just 74 balls. The innings of the match, however, was Mike Hussey's superb 79 from 87 balls, including two sixes and five fours.

England will have felt that 278, at 5.55 runs an over, was achievable, but only Paul Collingwood looked comfortable against the Australian attack.

Collingwood hit a masterly 95 as wickets tumbled around him, with Tait clocking 100 mph at one point as he clean-bowled three of his four victims - including Collingwood.

When Colly wobbled and became the eighth English wicket to fall, with 194 on the board, it looked like a big winning margin was on the cards and, under the circumstances, England did pretty well to add another 41 for the final two wickets.

Sadly for Australia, their attack has been rather jinxed by injuries, with Ryan Harris the latest paceman to be struck down - he has flown home after hurting his knee.

In a way, this series will be a minor distraction for the rest of the summer - it's being played on neutral territory and the two T20s have been scheduled just six weeks after the World Twenty20.

While Australia go into the series in good shape, Pakistan have also recovered following failure - they went down in the Asia Cup but finished on a high when they thrashed Bangladesh.

You don't need a long memory to recall the classic encounter the last time these teams met - a match that produced nearly 400 runs and a memorable finish as Hussey saw the Australians through to the final after they had needed 18 from the last over.

One of the significant factors in Australia's favour is the speed of Tait. It's tempting to think that Pakistan will be trying to avoid being skittled by his sizzlers and are hoping to cash in when he's not around, but Dirk Nannes, who's only been playing Twenty20s for Nottinghamshire lately, is likely to be at the other end, and he's no easy pickings.

The Edgbaston pitch might turn, but, if it's humid, which seems on the cards, the ball could swing, and Tait and Nannes are men who would turn that to their advantage.

It's worth backing Australia in this one, not least because they've won the last three matches in this format between the two countries.