T20 World Cup 2021: Kevin Pietersen makes a bold prediction ahead of England-Australia fixture

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen is backing the Eoin Morgan-led unit to 'smash' old enemy Australia in Saturday's Super-12 Group 1 fixture. Pietersen took to his Twitter account where he wrote:

"England will SMASH Australia today! #T20WorldCup."

This will be the first time that England and Australia lock horns in a T20 World Cup fixture since the 2010 final in Barbados. Interestingly, Pietersen played an important role in England gunning down Australia's total in the final to claim their maiden white-ball title.

Eleven years later, both sides will step into the Dubai International Stadium with the intention of making it three in a row in the marquee event.

England or Australia, who will claim the bragging rights in Dubai?

England and Australia have had a perfect start to their campaign. Both sides have notched up two wins in as many games and a win on Saturday will further bolster their chances of making it to the semi-finals.

If we compare the performance of both sides thus far, it is fair to say England have looked more dominant.

The No.1-ranked T20I unit barely broke a sweat in their first couple of games against defending champions West Indies and Bangladesh. The thing that will please England the most is that both victories were set up by their weaker suit- bowlers.

Australia, on the other hand, were scrappy with the bat during the run-chase of 119 against South Africa. However, the 2010 finalists redeemed themselves with a thumping win over Sri Lanka thanks to an all-round bowling performance and brilliant knocks from Aaron Finch and David Warner.

However, the issue for Australia is the lack of a fifth bowler. With Mitch Marsh not fit enough to bowl, the Aussies are reliant on Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis to fill in as the fifth bowler.

The strategy nearly backfired against Sri Lanka as the duo conceded 0/51 in four overs. However, the brilliance of the specialist bowlers made up for this calamity.

If the pitch in Dubai turns out to be batter-friendly and one of the main bowlers has a bad day or if Australia end up bowling second, the punt can come back to bite them against a power-packed English batting unit.

The last T20I series between the perennial rivals ended 2-1 in England's favor (August 2020). Both sides have met twice at T20 WC's with the honors shared at 1-1.