India vs Australia – Preview – Champions Trophy 2009
Australia, India, News | 496 VIEWS | September 27, 2009 at 9:55 pm| Ground Facts: Home to the Nashua Titans, SuperSport Park is rated by many as a ground with the best player facilities around the world. With a seating capacity of 22,000, the major appeal at this ground is the grass embankments which covers a large part of seating area. | ||||
| Ground Stats: There have been four Champions Trophy-09 matches played at this ground so far and three such games played here have witnessed the teams batting first scoring in excess of 300 and eventually winning the match. | ||||
| Temperatures: Min – 11c Max – 23c | Forecast: Mild showers expected | ||||
| Team Updates | ||||
| India: A team with multiple problems – wayward bowling attack, injury troubles and fielding woes – India face a stiff competitor who they must defeat to stay in the tournament. Zaheer’s absence was an opportunity which well utilized by Ashish Nehra, who maintained a disciplined line against Pakistan; but there ends the positives about the Indian bowling. While RP Singh and Ishant Sharma are proving to be a flash in the pan, even the experienced Harbhajan Singh seems to be having a hard time with the ball. The batting, on the other hand, saw more positives come out. Gambhir stromed his way back into the side with an aggressive half-century, while Rahul Dravid showed that he is always the reliable wall. Raina too had a good outing and India seemed en route to victory against Pakistan while Raina and Dravid were it the middle. However, the baffling part was the inclusion of Yusuf Pathan who does not seem to have an answer against International sides. India would have to play out of their skins against Australia if they hope to extend their stay in the Champions Trophy. | ||||
| Australia: The Kangaroos had a good beginning to their CT campaign starting off with a victory against the Windies. However, the team did look a bit rusty and West Indies, on occasions, did look to be on their way to cause a major upset. The batting department looks sturdy with Ponting leading from the front. However, a cause of concern for the Aussies is the way the middle order failed against the Windies before Mitchell Johnson pulled off a power-packed innings towards the end. When it comes to the bowling, the Aussie seamers have done a decent job in the recent times and would look to continue the same trend. However, the absence of a quality spinners has been felt by the team from Down Under. With the likes of Mendis and Ajmal getting assistance from the pitch, the Australians would miss the likes of Warne and MacGill. Having said that, the potent pace attack might prove sufficient against the under-pressure Indian team. | ||||
| Contests to watch: | ||||
| Ishant vs Ponting: It is true that Ishant Sharma is now not in the best of his bowling form, while Ricky Ponting has had a good outing with the bat in the recent past. However, one can never forget India’s trip to ‘Down Under’ in 2007/08 when Ponting was clueless against the testing deliveries that Ishant Sharma puzzled him with. India would hope that Ishant Sharma relives those moments and comes up with a similar show. | ||||
| Sachin Tendulkar vs Austraila: Tendulkar always reserves his best against the Aussies. Testimony to this would be the cricket fans around the world who would agree that 1998 belonged to Tendulkar, who single-handedly took India to the finals at Sharjah with a breath-taking century against Australia and then bettered his efforts in the finals taking India to victory against the Aussies. Numerous such shows have been provided courtesy the little master, and India would bank upon one such effort from the batting Maestro. | ||||
| Numbers Game: | ||||
| 8: There has never been an Indian batsman who has a better record against the Aussies in ODI’s than Sachin Tendulkar. The Master has scored 8 centuries against the Team from Down Under, at an average of 46.27. | ||||
| 5: Ricky Ponting happens to be the closest competitor on behalf of the Aussies, with 5 ODI hundreds against India. | ||||
| Sound Bytes: | ||||
| From now onwards it will be a knock-out tournament for us. If we don’t improve in the next two matches it is better we pack up and go back home: Dhoni, following India’s loss to Pakistan. | ||||
To get that sort of total, I thought the batsman did a really good job and Mitch finished things off really well for us: Ponting, in reference to Mitchell Johnson’s unbeaten 73 off 47 balls.
|
Faced with a do-or-die scenario after the opening loss to Pakistan, India brace up for another colossal challenge as they take on holders Australia with a five-strong bowling attack in their second Champions Trophy in Centurion on Monday.
The 54-run loss to Pakistan last night has not just exposed the frailties of India’s bowling and batting but has also put them in danger of crashing out of the event in case they lose tomorrow.
The injury-hit team is up against an opponent which came into the event after mauling England 6-1 in an ODI series.
But the world champions looked a bit rusty, surviving quite a few nervous moments against a rag-tag West Indies in their opening 50-run win yesterday.
That, however, can hardly be of any comfort for Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men.
| Pitch: Shaz says it is the same pitch that is used for the SA v Eng game last night. A tinge of green on the pitch, but nicely rolled in. Waz says 300 is an easy score on this wicket. It is going to come nicely on to the bat. Waz says the bowlers will get some reverse swing from the 15th over. Also there is a 60% chance of rain later today. |
| Teams: |
| Australia (Playing XI): Shane Watson, Tim Paine(w), Ricky Ponting(c), Mike Hussey, Callum Ferguson, Cameron White, Mitchell Johnson, James Hopes, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle |
| India (Playing XI): Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni(w/c), Suresh Raina, Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma |
| India have made a couple of changes, Amit Mishra is in for Yusuf Pathan and Praveen Kumar replaces RP Singh. Australia are unchanged. |
Match Timings:
Sat, Sep 26 (d/n)
14:30 local
12:30 GMT
06:00 pm
06.30pm Pakistan time
10.30pm Sydney/Melbourne in Australia 8.30am Canada/EST
8.30pm Malaysia/Singapore
12.30am New Zealand time
1.30pm UK time
5.30am Los Angeles time
8.30pm New York in USA
For complete list of TV Channels showing ICC Champions Trophy 2009 in USA,
India, UK and other countries, check this link:
Related posts
Tags: cricket highlights, cricket videos, eng vs sa, hero honda cup 2009, ind sl 2009, ind vs aus, ind vs sl, ind vs sl 2009, india australia series 2009, india vs australia, india vs australia live, india vs australia live score, india vs australia schedule 2009, india vs srilanka 2009, live cricket score, odi
Tweet This
Digg This
Save to delicious
Stumble it
RSS Feed
