England

The identity of the top four appeared to be a foregone conclusion at one stage, only for the tournament hosts to slip up against Sri Lanka at Headingley last Friday.

A surprise 20-run loss in Leeds means England are suddenly under a spot of pressure, though Morgan showed few signs of nerves when speaking to the media on the eve of Tuesday's clash with the Australians.

"Primarily it's trying to keep things as simple as possible. Being truthful and honest with our previous performance and trying to learn and rectify the performance almost immediately," the batsman said.

Eoin Morgan's side have made a purposeful start to the tournament on home soil and demonstrated why they top the ICC ODI rankings in Friday's eight-wicket thrashing of West Indies.

It is in stark contrast to the fortunes of their next opponents, who are languishing at the foot of the table without a point from their opening four matches.

After previous concerns over the likes of Jos Buttler and Mark Wood, managing injuries has been England's biggest obstacle.

Tournament hosts and favourites England were beaten by 14 runs at Trent Bridge on Monday as Pakistan ended a run of 11 straight losses in completed ODIs – a sequence that included a 4-0 series thrashing at the hands of Eoin Morgan's men and a 5-0 whitewash in the United Arab Emirates against Australia.

The ICC Champions Trophy holders were embarrassingly bounced out for 105 in a seven-wicket win for West Indies in their first game of the tournament but showed what they are capable of at the same venue three days later.

Mohammad Hafeez top scored with 84 from only 62 balls after Jason Roy dropped him on 14, which summed up a characteristically below-par showing from the hosts in the field as Pakistan posted 348-8.

A late addition to Eoin Morgan's squad after becoming eligible for England in March, Barbados-born paceman Archer showed why there had been such a clamour for his selection on Thursday, while Ben Stokes also shone and produced an early contender for catch of the tournament.

After the hosts were limited to 311-8 when they looked well set to post a bigger total, Archer swiftly undermined South Africa's reply, taking two wickets in a fine opening spell and forcing Hashim Amla to retire hurt as a vicious bouncer struck the veteran's helmet grille.

Host nation England are the ICC's number one team as they approach the upcoming tournament, looking to claim the trophy for the very first time.

But Stokes warned that unlike in longer series' where defeats can be rectified, England cannot afford any slip ups.

"All the nations come together over a certain period and whichever team performs best over that time gets to lift the trophy," he told Omnisport, speaking courtesy of Red Bull. "You want to be that team.

The full-back was dropped during the Test series defeat to South Africa in June and was overlooked by Eddie Jones for the November internationals.

Harlequins stalwart Brown is determined to add to his 72 caps and will discover on Thursday whether he has been selected by Jones.

"Obviously I'm massively disappointed not to be involved, because I'm desperate to play for England." the 33-year-old, speaking on behalf of Land Rover at an off-road driving event, told Omnisport.

Underhill injured his ankle playing for Bath in the English Premiership last weekend and is reportedly likely to be miss at least four weeks.

England plays Ireland in the Six nations opener on February 2 in Dublin, putting Underhill under a cloud for that match.

The 22-year-old was a breakout star for England in his debut Test year, playing nine Tests and becoming an important player for coach Eddie Jones.

Bath released an update on his fitness on Thursday morning (AEDT), saying Underhill would visit a specialist to confirm his prognosis later this week.

The result avenged their loss to England in the Commonwealth Games final earlier this year.

Trailing 14-9 late in the first quarter, Australia outscored England 15-10 in each of the the two middle terms to take control of the match.

They had a seven goal third quarter buffer slashed to two inside the last four minutes, but steadied down the stretch to beat England in the first clash between the nations since the Commonwealth Games.

Cecchin, who disallowed a try that would have given Tonga an upset win, has told The Sydney Morning Herald he was in an Auckland bar when police rang to tell him they had contacted him and several family members that had been targeted.

He was advised not the leave the hotel and told he would be picked up and taken to the airport.

On his return to Australia, he was picked up by the Australian Federal Police.

He also flicked through his phone to discover more than a thousand "vile" attacks, the likes of which he had never encountered across his entire career.