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The T20 World Cup dream looked dead and buried for the Aussies after they were decimated by New Zealand in the opening match of the tournament. However, the weather Gods had some other plans.

Rain in Melbourne saw Ireland land a shock upset win over England in a reduced-overs match, while New Zealand had to settle for split points against lowly Afghanistan in a washout.

It means the pool is wide open again for the Aussies and a win over England on Friday night will now go a long way to them securing an unlikely semi-finals berth.

Hopefully the rain stays away and the MCG will be rocking as the old enemies go to war!

Draftstars have put up a $12,000 guaranteed contest with a first-place prize of a tick over $1,000. There’s also a $2 mini with a $1,000 guaranteed.

Here’s our fantasy quick picks and suggested lineup for the contest between Australia and England.

Love It - Glenn Maxwell $14,000

$14k is about as cheap as you’ll ever see Glenn Maxwell in a DFS contest. His form hasn’t been great but he showed some glimpses of what he’s capable of against Sri Lanka to get the momentum moving in the Aussies favour. He’s ready to break out with a big score. However the beauty of Maxwell is that he is multi-dimensional. I think the Aussies may look to his off spin against the English left-handers such as Malan and Stokes, and he might be the preferred option as the fifth bowler over the medium pace of Stoinis or Marsh.

There’s also the crazy chance that he’s keeping in this match. Matthew Wade has Covid, and Maxwell took the gloves at training so he’s clearly the backup plan. Wade is expected to play at the time of writing, but crazier things have happened! It all equates to scoring potential in any direction for Maxwell at a great price.

Love It - Adam Zampa $13,400

This is a great price for Zampa who has been a world-class white ball bowler for many years now. He was unlucky to miss out in Perth due to Covid, but he’s certainly come straight back in here. He’s always effective with his economy or with taking wickets, and I think he’s the one who will give the England batting team the most concern. Ashton Agar is also a good price at $12,400 if he plays, especially since he’s also listed as a batsman.

Love It - Adil Rashid $11,600

A couple of the English players such as Ben Stokes and Sam Curran are very appealing as they are extremely effective T20 cricket, but to afford them, you’ll need to find some value on this slate. Adil Rashid’s fantasy numbers so far this tournament aren’t anything special and his price reflects that. So I’m hoping he’ll be under-owned and this is the match for him to perform. Australia have a weakness against good spin bowling. Stoinis did get hold of the Sri Lankans but before that Maheesh Theekshana had bowled two overs for just 3 runs. There’s still a weakness there, and Rashid is the key spinner for England to exploit that weakness. I expect him to have a good game.

Don’t Love It - Mitch Marsh $19,100

Mitch Marsh still looks a little rusty to me. He’s missed chunks of matches over the past year through injury, as is always the case with Marsh. He probably needs a bit more time in the middle to find some form, and I’m not sure that’s going to happen against England. Marsh is an attractive fantasy play when he’s bowling, but he’s probably the 7th choice bowler at the moment. He bowled one over against Sri Lanka and was quickly dispatched. Marcus Stoinis is clearly the preferred bowling option right now, which makes Marsh a pass at that hefty price.

Who Knows - Marcus Stoinis $15,300

I’m torn on which direction to go with Marcus Stoinis. He was herculean in his batting against Sri Lanka as he smoked them everywhere in the fastest ever T20 fifty for Australian in a man-of-the-match performance. He’s also getting first option as 5th bowler which offers extra fantasy potential. He’s a confidence player who is likely to ride that wave into his next match. However there’s some factors against him. He did start his innings a little scratchy, which he can do, and England are a far tougher assignment than Sri Lanka. I also think the English batsmen will target his bowling which could get ugly. If you also consider that recency bias might mean that the field will be taking a lot of Stoinis in this match, then it might not be a bad spot to fade.

Draftstars Suggested Lineup