The fourth ODI between England and Australia will be played at the Oval in London. England already leads the series 3-0 and having won it, will look to clean sweep the games. Australia, on the other hand, were showing signs of improvement with the ball in the previous encounter and will know that if they can get their batting together, could prove to be a handful.
Oval has been known to be a high-scoring ground and only a couple of years ago, a total of 300 was chased down successfully by India here. This means that the Aussies will be given a respite by the track, but it is the batsmen in the middle who need to fire. Ricky Ponting’s lack of runs has been a source of constant worry, whereas Michael Hussey seems to have lost all his appetite after the semi-final of the World T20 against Pakistan. 
On two occasions in the series now, the Aussies have fallen short by at least 30-40 runs of what they should have been at the end of the 50 overs and that will be a huge concern for them. However, credit must be given where it is due, and one gets the sense that the English spinners have managed to thwart the Aussie batsmen in the middle overs and that is where the games have changed.
England did collapse in the previous game, but it was due to complacency more than anything else. Shaun Tait’s incisiveness will have to be watched but then, he would be ineffective if the other bowlers cannot give it their best. For now, Ryan Harris looks to be settling down from his injury, whereas Steve Smith has hardly looked a part of the side, despite his ambitious plans of emulating Shane Warne.
The hosts will now not want to take their foot off the pedal, and hammer home the advantage. Another win toss, field first game beckons as the pitch only improves over the game and that will also mean that the likes of Tait and Bollinger will not get the early morning juice to bowl on.
England (10/11 at Sporting Bet) goes into the game as favourites but only marginally. However, that, by itself is a huge improvement over the start of the series where the Aussies (1/1 at Victor Chandler to win the 4th ODI) were hands down favourites to win the first game. This could just be a tough, gruelling encounter in the offing.