Australia defied all known logic to win the opening Test of the four they are playing against India and against all the odds they have the chance to secure at least a share of the spoils when the two sides meet in the second Test in Bangalore which begins on Saturday.
India need to bounce back from the disappointment of Pune to reassert themselves. A win here will level up the series and it will still be hard to see them losing from that position.
India
After losing the toss in the first Test, India were always chasing the game. Their batting was a real surprise. That came completely out of the blue even allowing for the fact that the conditions were tough right from the off. Australia bowled well but you would never expect India to get shot out twice like that in their own conditions.
It would be hard to believe they can bat that badly again and if they do get things sorted with the bat then they will know it was one special innings that got away from them in that opening match. That said they will need to keep the pressure on Smith as he is the heartbeat of this side.
Australia
If you had asked Australia for a dream scenario heading into the first Test I don’t think even they could have come up with what actually happened. They bowled better than anyone could have expected them and even if they had expected that it would probably have been Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon expected to do the damage.
Australia will want more of their batsmen to step up and they will need that to happen if they are going to get the series won at any stage but the first Test was a good platform to build on. Smith looks comfortable in these conditions and if one or two can join him Australia could continue to surprise.
Team News
There doesn’t appear to be too many options for India to freshen things up. I would expect their batsmen to be given another chance to make up for the first Test in what could be an unchanged side.
Australia have confirmed that they will field the same side which won in Pune which means Mitchell Marsh is retained despite not bowling in the previous match.
M Chinnaswamy Stadium
There have been 21 previous Test matches on this ground but India don’t have the greatest record here it has to be said. They have six wins and six defeats from their 21 matches with nine draws. Australia have a 2-1 winning record from five matches.
The ground is at altitude so the ball often does a bit through the air which is likely to keep Australia very interested. The wicket is set to turn although not as drastically as the one in Pune did.
Betting
I’m tempted to back Australia in this match but I don’t believe India will bat as badly again and I’m not convinced Australia will bat as well again. I would also like to see the toss before I get involved in the match betting too so I’ll head for the side markets for a bet here.
It is the performances I like here where after his 12 wicket heroics last week Steve O’Keefe has a low looking line at 110.5. Just on wickets alone last week he totalled 240pts and while he won’t take 12 wickets again there is no reason why he can’t snaffle six and that is enough to cover this line.
I would wager five wickets would be too because he can bat so 11pts with the bat shouldn’t be beyond him so the more you look at this line the more the overs looks a good thing.
Tips
Back S.O’Keefe’s Performance – Over 110.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Paddy Power
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