The second of the two T20Is between Australia and England will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. England lead the series 1-0.

It was a topsy-turvy first game with both sides having their chances. Australia had a dashing start thanks to Shane Watson’s (7/2 at SkyBet) calculated attack on Graeme Swann but they got bogged down in the middle overs by some excellent spin bowling. Then, England looked like they were on the verge of an easy win when Watson returned to scalp four wickets. Then, Chris Woakes showed remarkable cool in guiding his side to a win off the last ball of the game.

Despite the first game win, the close nature of the victory puts both sides at evens or near-evens odds. England go in at 10/11 (Blue Square) to win the game while Coral offers 1/1 for an Australian win. In a format where momentum counts for not a lot, England’s eight wins in a row could be an exception and there is a good chance that they will make it 2-0.

Australia could go in with the same line-up. While the bowlers did not do a great job upfront, one would expect the likes of Brett Lee and Shaun Tait to bounce back from the pounding they received at the hands of Ian Bell (4/1 at SkyBet) and Kevin Pietersen (7/2 at Blue Square), at the start of the innings. Eoin Morgan (5/1 at BetFred) is a vital cog in the middle-order and one of the reasons were England’s success in the shorter format and his 43 was the cornerstone of the English chase.

Australia need their middle-order to fire in the middle-overs. David Hussey (11/2 at Blue Square) was not too quick off the blocks and by the time the end overs came around, the side had lost their momentum that Watson had provided. One can imagine that captain Cameron White (6/1 at SkyBet) could bring himself at the number three position while the likes of Tim Paine (10/1 at Paddy Power) or even Steven Smith (14/ 1 at Stan James) can be used as floaters to accelerate the scoring.

One gets the feeling that having tasted success, England will look to go for the kill in the second T20. However, they would do well to rotate the players around given the long summer already and the even longer one ahead.