Australia levelled up a brilliant Test series with India in the second match in Perth a couple of weeks ago and both teams will be out to secure a guaranteed share of the spoils when they meet in Melbourne in the third Test which begins on Boxing Day.
We’ve seen both sides show competitive edges to their play in the matches they have won and if those first two games are anything to go by we should expect plenty more in the wonderful setting of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
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Australia
Once again we would be lying if we said Australia’s performance in the previous match was perfect but the one thing it was, was dominant at the right moments and it will be those key times which they will be looking to be at their best in again. We saw in Perth that Australia can handle this India batting line up but they will need their own batting to come on strong.
The heat in Melbourne is said to be intense over the course of this match so you would expect the wicket to dry out significantly as the game goes on so that could be a concern for Australia. We’ve seen throughout the year that Australia are very bad against spin so the last thing they will need is pitches in their own country turning.
India
I guess India could argue that injuries hampered them in the previous match and to an extent they would be right but I don’t think they played well enough to win it. I’m not convinced injuries did anything to harm them with the bat and it was in that department that they failed most. They need to find some lower order runs because in even series it is becoming that which is decisive more and more.
The encouraging thing in the two matches to date has been that India do not look low on ability with the ball. Clearly this isn’t the best Australia batting line up that they have ever bowled to but they are on top of it so if their batsmen can get the job done then they are going to go close to a famous series win over the next couple of weeks.
Team News
Australia have confirmed that they will be making one change to their side for this match with Mitchell Marsh coming in for Peter Handscomb. Paine suggested it was because they will need Marsh’s bowling but Handscomb has never really proved himself at this level.
India have picked their XI for this match and they have gone all radical with it. KL Rahul and Murali Vijay have been chopped with Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma coming in for them although it is believed Hanuma Vihari will open with Agarwal. Ravi Jadeja comes into the side too.
Melbourne Cricket Ground
With the Boxing Day Test being an Australian tradition it comes as no surprise that there have been 110 previous Test matches on this ground. Australia have featured in all of them and have 63 wins to just 30 defeats with 17 draws in that time. India have been and played here on 12 occasions registering a couple of wins, a pair of draws and eight losses.
This is usually a decent enough pitch to bat on although batsmen usually have to run hard with the big boundaries. The weather is expected to be brutally hot so it would be silly not to expect the pitch to dry out and turn into something of a spinners paradise come the end of the contest.
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Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets in this match. The first one is the performance of Mohammad Shami where his line of 95.5 looks a little on the low side to me. He has taken five wickets in both matches so far and if he does that for a third time here we are home and hosed. When you figure that this pitch is meant to have more grass on it than any of the others so far he should in theory be in the wickets just as much if not more. I expect him to cover 95.5pts.
Mitchell Marsh has been picked with not a whole lot to lose in this match and at 8/1 he might well justify his pick by top scoring in the first innings. It wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world for the Australian top order to fail so his attacking style in the middle to lower order could be just what is needed to score here. Marsh won’t lack for motivation in this match so I’ll have a small play in the market.
Tips
Back M.Shami’s Performance – Over 95.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back him here:
Back M.Marsh Top Australia 1st Inns Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 9.00 with BetVictor
Back him here:
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