"They (England) are full of world-class players. They have been the No. 1 team for a couple of years now. They should be going into this World Cup as favourites."
Nathan Lyon celebrates a wicket with teammates.
Australian spinner Nathan Lyon has said that Australia are not the favourites to win the semi-final against England in the ongoing World Cup and it is England's match to lose, billing England as firm favourites to win the cup.
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"They (England) are full of world-class players. They have been the No. 1 team for a couple of years now. They should be going into this World Cup as favourites. It's all on them. It's their World Cup to lose if you ask me. We have got nothing to lose, only got stuff to gain," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Lyon, as saying.
"That's the exciting thing about it. We are going to go out there, we are going to compete, we are going to have fun, we are going to have a smile on our face, we are going to try and improve," he added.
Australia were set to face New Zealand earlier but it all changed on Saturday when India played Sri Lanka and Australia faced South Africa in their last league games.
Australia lost to South Africa by a small margin and India aced against Sri Lanka, thereby climbing down the table to second place and booking a match with England in the semi-finals. India topped the table and face 4th placed New Zealand in the semifinal on July 9, 2019.
Lyon said that the semi-final match against England will be a true test of character for the team, adding that playing against the number one team will be a massive challenge.
"Yes, it is going to be a test of character. We are playing against the world's No. 1 team. They are favourites to win the World Cup. So it's going to be a massive challenge. Playing against England in England in a semi-final doesn't get much better," Lyon said.
"Every time you play against England, you want to compete hard against them and try and come out on the top. Obviously, their side is full of absolute superstars, and we are definitely going in as underdogs," he added.
In the match between Australia and South Africa, the latter won the toss and opted to bat first. Skipper Faf du Plessis scored a century to allow Proteas to post a challenging score of 325/6 in fifty overs.
Australia's opener David Warner played a knock of 122 runs, but he was not able to take his team over the line as Australia suffered a 10-run defeat.
The Kangaroos will take on England on July 11, 2019, for a place in the World Cup final.
With inputs from ANI
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