India favourites against struggling Oz
31 March 2014 4:53 AM IST
Having registered comprehensive wins against Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh in three successive matches to qualify for the semi-finals, the confidence of the team is at an all-time high as they face George Bailey’s Australia which has not done justice to their immense potential.
With back-to-back defeats against Pakistan and West Indies, the Australian team are all but out of the competition with a faint mathematical possibility that has kept them afloat and interested.But for that to happen, George Bailey and his team first need to beat India by a comprehensive margin which looks a distant reality considering the current form of the two teams.
While India’s campaign has gone from strength to strength with a solid all-round show in all the matches, Australia have struggled to maintain the momentum during the key stages of the game which is all the more important in a short format like the Twenty20. For India, the key has been their spinners, who have done a tremendous job. While left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has been a bit on the expensive side despite taking wickets, off-spinner R Ashwin and leg-spinner Amit Mishra have been pictures of consistency so far in the tournament.
Ashwin should be lauded for the manner in which he has bowled in the Powerplay overs often seizing the initiative for his team while Mishra has been fantastic for India at the back end with his clever variations. They have been assigned different roles by their captain and both have so far stood tall to the expectations of their leader. Ashwin has hardly given any runs to the top-order in the Powerplay overs operating from round the wicket to the right-handers cramping them for room.
Although Ashwin has taken only three wickets in three matches, an economy rate of 5.16 over 12 overs is something that any captain would be proud of. He has had the best economy rate among the slow bowlers. Mishra, on the other hand, has bamboozled the batsmen with his guile. His googly has not been read well by most of the batsmen while he has used the flight to deceive the batsmen in the air. The classical leg-breaks have also got him wickets as the seven scalps in three matches with a highly impressive economy rate of 5.50 tells the story.
For Australia, their death bowling has been a problem and among the batsmen, only Glenn Maxwell has shown his true potential with scores of 73 and 45 in the two matches. Brad Hodge has also been effective but the failure of David Warner and Shane Watson in successive matches, has hurt their campaign a lot.
With back-to-back defeats against Pakistan and West Indies, the Australian team are all but out of the competition with a faint mathematical possibility that has kept them afloat and interested.But for that to happen, George Bailey and his team first need to beat India by a comprehensive margin which looks a distant reality considering the current form of the two teams.
While India’s campaign has gone from strength to strength with a solid all-round show in all the matches, Australia have struggled to maintain the momentum during the key stages of the game which is all the more important in a short format like the Twenty20. For India, the key has been their spinners, who have done a tremendous job. While left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has been a bit on the expensive side despite taking wickets, off-spinner R Ashwin and leg-spinner Amit Mishra have been pictures of consistency so far in the tournament.
Ashwin should be lauded for the manner in which he has bowled in the Powerplay overs often seizing the initiative for his team while Mishra has been fantastic for India at the back end with his clever variations. They have been assigned different roles by their captain and both have so far stood tall to the expectations of their leader. Ashwin has hardly given any runs to the top-order in the Powerplay overs operating from round the wicket to the right-handers cramping them for room.
Although Ashwin has taken only three wickets in three matches, an economy rate of 5.16 over 12 overs is something that any captain would be proud of. He has had the best economy rate among the slow bowlers. Mishra, on the other hand, has bamboozled the batsmen with his guile. His googly has not been read well by most of the batsmen while he has used the flight to deceive the batsmen in the air. The classical leg-breaks have also got him wickets as the seven scalps in three matches with a highly impressive economy rate of 5.50 tells the story.
For Australia, their death bowling has been a problem and among the batsmen, only Glenn Maxwell has shown his true potential with scores of 73 and 45 in the two matches. Brad Hodge has also been effective but the failure of David Warner and Shane Watson in successive matches, has hurt their campaign a lot.
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