India drew first blood in the T20 series with Australia on Friday and now as the series returns to the Sydney Cricket Ground the tourists have the chance to land the crown with a match to spare when the second T20 takes place on Sunday.
Australia know they need to win both matches from here on in if they are going to add the T20 series to the ODI series they have already won, but having won both ODIs that were held on this ground they shouldn’t be ruled out of things just yet.
Australia
Australia would probably have been quite happy at the halfway mark of their match against India in Canberra on Friday. These days 160 or so is a comfortable run chase for the top sides and when they were 56-0 in the eighth over they had laid a decent platform with their batting depth to push on and come out on top, but then they got stuck and lost their way and ended up never really threatening and with the scoreline flattering them a little.
That is the acid test for them in this match, to show their worth with the bat. The fallout from the concussion substitute that India used in that opener has masked over a poor batting display, even if the wicket was holding up a little by that point. There will be no excuses here based on the pitches that were used in the ODI matches on this ground. They were as flat as they come and something similar is expected in this game, if not the one which follows.
India
Having won the final ODI of the three, India will have been delighted to have built on that by winning the opening T20 match as well. It would be wrong to say they were in complete control of the match but they finished their batting innings well and in the key periods with the ball in hand they held their nerve nicely to draw first blood. The task now is refining that performance and building on it again to sew up the series with a match to spare.
There is more to come from their top order with the bat and it might be that this is the ground to bring it out of them. Where their standards need to be maintained is with the ball. They were very solid in that opening match with their spin twins causing problems in particular. India were clearly tuned up to the format on Friday and there is no reason to think that won’t be the case in this second game of the series.
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Team News
Australia will definitely be without Mitchell Starc who has been withdrawn due to a personal issue. Aaron Finch is a major doubt with the injury he sustained in the first game. Matthew Wade could come in for Finch while Nathan Lyon could replace Starc.
India will be forced into a change after Ravi Jadeja was ruled out of the remainder of the series with the concussion he suffered on Friday. Yuzvendra Chahal replaced him in that match and would be the obvious replacement here.
Betting
The absence of Starc is a huge factor in this match. India could well get away from Australia early doors and there might not be any pulling things back if that is the case. Starc isn’t just a big loss at the start of the innings but he is going to be missed at the death when the slog overs come along. If that isn’t bad enough there is a chance that Australia’s best batsman over the last week or so could also be missing in the form of Aaron Finch. That would be another huge blow.
It probably isn’t ideal that India will be without Ravi Jadeja but if they play it right the number seven shouldn’t really matter and he was off the field by the time it came to bowl in the first game. Ultimately Australia are not good players of spin and in this format that comes to the fore in particular. When you put everything together I’m expecting an India win here to wrap up the series at the first possible opportunity.
Tips
WON – Back India to beat Australia for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
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