The ODI series between India and Australia continues on Sunday when the two teams head to Visakhapatnam fir the second game of the scheduled three, one which gives the home side the first chance to win the series.
They set up that opportunity when they cruised through the opening game. Australia had to come from behind to keep the Test series alive and now they need to do the same to force a deciding ODI.
India
It turned out to be a pretty simple win for India in the opening match of the series but in the first 20 overs it looked like it could be a daunting challenge as Australia flew out of the blocks. To their credit though, India turned things around dramatically in the second half of their bowling effort and in the end they set up what looked like it would be a comfortable run chase.
That wasn’t quite how it played out as a Mitchell Starc burst had then reeling a little at four down early on but the experience in the Indian Middle order eventually got them home without too many scares. India will want to see a vast improvement in the start of both innings to make life a little more comfortable for themselves but they have the knowledge that they can still get it done even if they fall behind on the balance of play.
Australia
Given the start that they got off to, Australia will have been frustrated to be beaten as comfortably as they were in that opening match of the series. They will know a terrible collapse cost them any chance of coming out on top but when they look back on the match they will have seen that they didn’t need the huge score that has previously been needed in Mumbai to get over the line which might only serve to frustrate them even more. They will be keen not to throw such a good position away here if they can get into one.
One area where there is room for improvement is with the bat. Some of that will come naturally as one or two players were playing their first match of the tour in the opening ODI and will automatically come on for the run. The backup bowlers have more to offer too. They are in the same boat as the batters so we should expect a better showing from the tourists here and if we do get that they should run India close at the very least as they bid to force a decider.
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Team News
The big news for India is that Rohit Sharma returns to the side and will skipper it. It remains to be seen whether India go in with a third spinner with Australia struggling against spin throughout the tour. Washington Sundar could get used if that is the case.
David Warner and Alex Carey were ruled out of the opening ODI quite late on but there is a chance that they will both be fit to feature in this match. Carey would come in for Josh Inglis and it would probably be Marnus Labuschagne to sit out for Warner.
Betting
The boundaries looked like they were going to cruise in with the start that Australia made in the opening match but then the collapse put paid to any chances it had but I think there is mileage in taking the over on a 65.5 line here. The last ODI on this ground had more than 80 boundaries in it and with this not being the biggest ground in the world and two key openers likely to be back involved in the game I expect the boundaries to flow.
The last two matches here have been high scoring games and with Visakhapatnam not getting international cricket of IPL action too often we should get a decent wicket here. There is a chance that the weather could annoy us but if that is not the case then I expect the boundaries to start flowing pretty early here and then continuing to do so throughout the contest. I’ll go with over 65.5 boundaries in this one.
Tips
Back Over 65.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
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