'Another hiccup for England': Kevin Pietersen's sledge at Aussies backfires

Shane Warne has called out Kevin Pietersen after the Englishman’s sledge against the Aussies backfired after England’s loss against Sri Lanka.

The Aussies powered their way to their third highest one-day total in their history on Thursday against Bangladesh, but didn't escape criticism from some of the game’s greats.

Former England star Pietersen declared Australia’s approach to batting won’t get them anywhere against the best teams.

In fact, he said they should start preparing for the Ashes.

“Bangladesh got 333 versus Australia yesterday which means England will get over 400 against them, therefore cancelling out their chances,” he wrote.

“Aussies should just hop on Qantas already and go prep for The Ashes.”

But his confidence might have waned after Sri Lanka defeated England by 20 runs to blow the tournament table wide open.

Chasing 232 for victory on a slow track on Friday, England struggled against veteran Malinga's variations before they fell to their second defeat of the tournament, squandering an opportunity to join holders Australia at the top of the standings.

Warne made sure to point out England might not be favourites anymore after their second loss.

Warne criticises Aussie batting attack

Tweeting during their innings and before they reached 5-381, Warne was critical of the selection of Usman Khawaja ahead of Shaun Marsh and their general batting plan.

"I still believe Australia can challenge India & England for the World Cup trophy, but not with this game style or batting order," Warne tweeted.

"Australia have fire power but have decided not to use it & gone with playing conservative cricket!

"Not sure why ... it's very strange !!!"

The criticism comes ahead of Tuesday's blockbuster clash with England, where the hosts' crash and bash style will be on full display.

In contrast, Australia back themselves to have wickets in hand and maintain the run rate with one of the top four scoring big, before exploding late.

Their style has also proved to be effective, with the defending champions' tournament run rate of 6.48 the second highest in the competition behind England's 7.03.

"I always respect what Warne says," Warner said.

"For us it's about going out there and doing the best we can. And whether or not we're batting slow or fast, I think you're going to get some form of criticism somewhere.

"But I felt the way we batted today, we tried to take it as deep as we did and we ended up getting 380.

"That's just the way that we're playing at the moment and we can only adapt to the conditions that are in front of us."

Glenn Maxwell, who hit 32 from 10 balls against Bangladesh, also rebuffed the criticism.

"I think we went at 13s for the last 14 overs. So I don't think we went that bad," he said.

with AAP