India, with three win and no loss so far, is facing Australia on Sunday that is crucial to Aussies at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur. India is already in the semi-final, the first team to get there early with three straight wins.
Preview
India is already in the semi-final, the first team to get there early on with three wins. The formula was simple though, win toss, put the opposition to bat and restrict them to under 140, chase runs with Virat Kohli and the middle order in toe.
India has won three matches so far by seven wickets, seven wickets and eight wickets respectively against Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh and everytime Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss.
Rohit and Kohli, have scored half-centuries and the others have batted fine as Shikhar Dhawan (31 in 37 balls), Yuvraj Singh (11 in 21), Suresh Raina (26 in 29) and Dhoni (22 in 12).
Rohit with 142 runs in 122 deliveries, Kohli 147 for once dismissed in 123, have made a formidable partnership between them, as Rohit and Kohli have scored 289 of 389 runs – that’s 74.2%, says Wisden report.
India skipper MS Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher face the only prospect of batting first, in case Dhoni doesn’t win the toss. Even making 200 runs will not be safer as Australia is a more powerful team.
From the batting angle, Yuvraj, Raina and Dhoni, with R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, firm on the crease will matter more.
Australia may not let it go down without a fight, though it faced defeat in the hands of Pakistan and West Indies. Captain
George Bailey cannot blame it on his players merely but on psychological points.
Since the game is in the night, Australia should keep going hard at the bowling right from the beginning and Mitchell Starc should give the ball a mighty thwack.
Shane Watson, who has twice been dismissed by a spinner, with just six runs and Glenn Maxwell in the middle order should shoulder the responsibility on Sunday.
Squads
Australia: Aaron Finch, David Warner, Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, George Bailey (capt), Brad Hodge, Brad Haddin (wk), James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Doug Bollinger, Brad Hogg, James Muirhead, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Dan Christian, Cameron White.
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt, wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Stuart Binny, Ajinkya Rahane, Varun Aaron, Mohit Sharma.
