The final Test between Australia and India begins on Thursday morning or late on Wednesday evening for those of us in the UK, with the home side knowing they must win in Sydney else the tourists will claim the series.
India secured a share of the spoils when they delivered an emphatic win at Melbourne and now the two sides meet for the fourth and final Test where if Virat Kohli’s men avoid defeat they will secure a famous series win.
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Australia
The home side will be bitterly disappointed to have succumbed in the fashion that they did in Melbourne, especially having levelled up the series so strongly in Perth. The good thing is they have come back from being beaten once already so they should know that there is a strong chance they can do it again if they can seize the early control of the contest.
If Australia are going to earn themselves a share of the spoils then they are simply going to have to bat much better than they did in Melbourne. They were particularly disappointing with the bat there because there were no demons in the wicket to begin with but they did not put enough of a value on their wicket and panicked against spin all the time.
India
I would imagine the Indians will be delighted with how this series has gone so far. To be ahead going to Sydney might have been beyond their wildest dreams but there is no doubt that they are heading to the venue where when they arrived in Australia they will have been most expecting to come out on top. They go there knowing that just avoiding defeat earns them a famous series win.
The reason why India are leading this series has primarily been their bowling attack who have been fantastic throughout the series but to be fair to them they were brave with their selection in Melbourne, replacing misfiring batsmen, and got the ultimate reward. They now need one more big performance to achieve their goal.
Team News
Australia are set to make changes for this match with Marcus Labaschagne coming back in for Mitchell Marsh while Aaron Finch’s spot in the side is hanging by a thread. He would be dumped for Peter Handscomb with Usman Khawaja moving up to open.
India will also be forced into a change with Rohit Sharma returning home to attend the birth of his daughter. KL Rahul is set to come back in and open with Hanuma Vihari dropping back to the middle order. Ishant Sharma has been ruled out with a rib injury so Umesh Yadav comes in. R Ashwin has been ruled out.
Sydney Cricket Ground
There have been 106 previous Test matches held at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Australia have featured in all of them and have a very good record with 59 wins to just 28 losses. They have drawn the other 19 matches. India have played here on 11 occasions and surprisingly have recorded just one win. They have lost five and drawn five of the other 10 games so history would be with Australia.
Traditionally this wicket is the one which offers the most for the spinners which should interest the Indians but the curator has said there should be something in the pitch for everyone at various points in the match with movement early on before it becoming good for batting and then offering turn later on.
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Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets in this match with the first one being the performance of Hanuma Vihari which is staggeringly low at 63.5. He made 50 in the warm up match for this series which was on this very ground and with Ashwin ruled out meaning India may go in with only one front line spinner which means Vihari is likely to see a fair few overs later in the match. Two be fair a couple of 20s with the bat and a wicket will get the job done here but now that he is away from the new ball he should be capable of threatening this total with the bat. However he gets it I fancy the over here.
Pat Cummins will be playing on his home ground in this match so he should know how the wicket plays and at 33/1 I think he’s worth a punt on being the leading batsman in the first innings for the hosts. Cummins top scored in the second innings at Melbourne and played wonderfully and with Australia searching for the right combination in their top six it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if they struggle early on. Cummins can actually bat, he’s full of confidence and he looks a big price to me here.
Tips
Back H.Vihari’s Performance – Over 63.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back him here:
Back P.Cummins Top Australia first innings batsman for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Boylesports
Back him here:
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