There are two nations left to get their ICC Cricket World Cup campaign underway and they do so on Sunday when the tournament heads to Chennai for the first time as the hosts India take on a much fancied Australia.
These two sides are among the favourites for the title and get their first chance to show their credentials against each other in what should be the best match of the competition so far if both play to their potential.
India
There is no team under more pressure heading into this tournament than India. In home conditions if they don’t win this competition they will be considered as a failure and that is the harsh reality of it when you consider the strength that is in this World Cup. They will make life much easier for themselves if they are able to get off to a fast start. Not only would a win here set them on their way but it would create a trickier path for a major rival.
If India are going to win this game and win it well then you would imagine that their spinners would be key to the process. They will get the conditions to suit, which means that in turn we know their batters should be more comfortable than that of their counterparts so if the spinners can squeeze and strangle they could make life very tough for the Australians. We’ve seen a few teams look a little indifferent so far so a convincing display will have Indians dreaming of big things.
Australia
About a month out from the World Cup it looked like Australia were getting themselves into a really good place. They had a settled batting unit which was really firing well and was so good that Marnus Labuschagne wasn’t a guaranteed starter but then the injury to Travis Head happened in South Africa and things haven’t really been the same since then. They have had to rejig their batting and now they get the chance to show that they have done it well.
The results of Australia have struggled as a result of that but I’m not sure we should read a great deal into that because they have been managing their bowlers to ensure that they are fresh for this competition and they have been playing some batters who haven’t been named in this squad with a bit of succession planning in mind. The one thing we know about Australia is when they turn up to a tournament they are serious about winning it, and they have a great record in this one.
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Team News
India are said to be having a few selection issues. Shubman Gill is recovering from dengue and so Ishan Kishan might come in and open the batting while R Ashwin is expected to get in ahead of Shardul Thakur. Crazily, there might be no place for Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia have a fitness doubt over Marcus Stoinis and if he isn’t passed fit then Cameron Green will get the seam all-rounder spot. Alex Carey is expected to have the gloves ahead of Josh Inglis while Labuschagne and Steve Smith are both expected to play.
Betting
I’m a little bit reluctant to take the under in the runs market after the South Africa and Sri Lanka game on Saturday but Chepauk is known to be a tough place to bat with the spinners in the game throughout and the pitch just not being the most conducive to fantastic strokeplay. It isn’t like Australia are the best players of spin either so on this occasion I do think we can take the under, especially when the line is 600 when in 21 ODIs here outside of that Asia XI vs Africa XI series there has been just one score of 300.
We’ve seen a couple of teams in England and Pakistan underperform with the bat in their opening match and that trend could continue here. The ball doesn’t really come onto the bat on this ground and both bowling units are very good. I don’t envisage a score of 300 here but this is the sort of pitch where it slows right up as the game goes on so even if the first innings is higher than 300 there is no guarantee it gets chased down so the under can still land. I’ll play under 600.5 runs in this one.
Tips
Back Under 600.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betway
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