47 games after the ICC Cricket World Cup began, we have reached the final as the two biggest nations in the sport meet in Ahmedabad on Sunday when the hosts India go up against the former champions Australia.
These two opened up their tournament against each other in Chennai and they will conclude it against each other with everything on the line in what promises to be a great final between two top notch exponents of the 50 over game.
India
India will not just be hoping to win their home World Cup and emulate the team of 2011, they will be looking to go unbeaten throughout the competition and when you consider you have to play 11 matches to win a World Cup that would be an insane achievement should it happen, even allowing for things like home advantage and a schedule which saw most of their big matches coming when the first phase campaign was still competitive for them.
There has been no weakness shown by India in the competition at all. They have barely got into trouble with the bat but when they have the middle order has got them out of any holes that they were getting into. The key to this Indian success is that in nearly every match they have got new ball wickets and exposed middle orders to their spinners and because the run rate hasn’t been high to begin with teams have had to go at those spinners which plays into the Indian hands.
Australia
It isn’t just India who go into this match off the back of a lengthy unbeaten run. Australia might not have reached double figures for their winning run but they have won their last eight matches and are building up a good head of steam. They will know this is their toughest test in that run though because India beat them at the start of the competition so they will hope that they have saved their best for here when they are going to need it.
Australia have got themselves into a few holes in this winning run but they have always had someone to get them out of it. Those troubles have often come with the bat so that might not bode well because it will be hard to recover against this bowling attack. The one thing which could keep Australia in this match is their own bowling attack, which never seems to panic if and when it goes around the park and they find ways to get the job done.
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Team News
India have been unchanged since the midway part of the competition when Hardik Pandya went down. Shubman Gill was off the field in their semi-final win but he is expected to play so India are likely to go in with the same XI again.
Australia have been teetering between Marnus Labuschagne and Marcus Stoinis throughout the tournament. You would imagine batting technique will be required in this match so that should give the former the nod once again.
Betting
I’m already on Australia to win this match having backed them outright before a ball was hit. I’m not massively confident but this is 50 over cricket so I’ll let it ride. I will go with three bets for the final though with the first of them being under 583.5 runs. This looks too high for a World Cup final. By all accounts we’re getting another used pitch which is a bit of a disgrace but there you go and we have two top notch attacks to take advantage of the conditions. Australia haven’t really been batting great throughout this tournament and the India top order are due a failure. The first meeting between these two was low scoring and I expect this to be lower scoring than expected too.
Australia have had a torrid time against spin in this tournament and they have just made Keshav Maharaj look like Shane Warne so the 5/1 for Ravi Jadeja to be the leading India bowler in this match looks mighty tempting. It is even more tempting when you consider that his 3-28 in the first match between these two was a top bowling effort. Mohammad Shami has come in since then and he is on fire and merits respect but generally the wicket turns in Ahmedabad and Jadeja could be the man to take advantage of that.
The other bet I like is for KL Rahul to be the top match batter. I would expect India to win the match and therefore they’ll score the most runs so it makes sense for them to have the leading batter in the contest. He top scored when these two met first time around when Australia did plenty of damage with the new ball and I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens again. His 97* under pressure was high class while his recent century against the Netherlands shows that he can give it a bash when the need arises as well. He is 16/1 to be the top scorer in the match and with nerves about I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a decent stab at it.
Tips
Back Under 583.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back R.Jadeja Top India Bowler for a 1/10 stake at 6.00 with Bet365
Back KL.Rahul Top Match Batter for a 1/10 stake at 17.00 with Betfair
