England vs Australia prediction and T20 cricket betting tips

Where to watch England vs Australia

Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 6.30pm Wednesday

Best bets

Josh Inglis top Australia runscorer
2pts 9-2 general

Sam Curran top England runscorer
1pt 10-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

England vs Australia prediction

Australia won last week's T20 series in Scotland 3-0 and they have been well backed to beat England at the Rose Bowl in the first of three 20-over internationals.

Phil Salt will deputise for injured England captain Jos Buttler while coach Marcus Trescothick is in interim charge until Brendon McCullum takes over white-ball duties in January.

England's T20 World Cup title defence in June ended with a semi-final drubbing by India and they were also beaten by Australia in the first group stage.

However, the Aussies missed out on the semis following a shock defeat to Afghanistan and senior fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins have been rested for this series.

Chilly, autumnal conditions in Hampshire should help the quicker bowlers and it may pay to swerve the openers in the top-runscorer markets.

Australia's Travis Head smashed 80 off 25 balls in the first T20 against Scotland but the Aussies lost their first wicket with the score at nought, 11 and two in three matches in Edinburgh.

Josh Inglis dominated the runscoring in game two, making his second T20 international century from just 43 deliveries – breaking his own record for the fastest T20 ton by an Australian.

The Leeds-born wicketkeeper should bat in the top four and he has solid Twenty20 form in English conditions, having amassed 531 runs with two centuries for Leicestershire in the 2021 T20 Blast.

England's team at the Rose Bowl will include debutants Jordan Cox and Jacob Bethell, who are expected to bat at numbers three and five in the order.

But the double-figure quotes about number six Sam Curran top-scoring for the hosts are too big to ignore as his short-format batting has stepped up a level this summer.

Curran's five Blast innings for Surrey included two fifties and a maiden T20 century and last month he cracked 201 runs from just 122 balls to help Oval Invincibles retain their title in The Hundred.

Click for more free bets and betting offers from the Racing Post

Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing and sports betting.