Preview: Australia v India

Many people might have expected India v Australia to be the final, the hosts and number one test team in the world against the holders and, for the time being at least, number one ODI side in the world. That such a match is taking place at such an early stage in the tournament may seem to be an anomaly but is, instead, a reflection of the shortcomings of the two sides so far.

Neither side have emerged from the group stage unscathed, Australia losing their long standing unbeaten record against Pakistan and India coming unstuck against South Africa and, almost, England. Both sides have shown significant flaws: India have developed a worrying habit of collapsing from strong positions and their bowling lacks depth and penetration, while Australia are over-reliant on erratic pace bowling and have yet to record a hundred. Australia are the better fielding side without touching the heights of the recent past, but India have significantly better spin bowling options.

What, then, will happen? Much depends on the confrontation between the Australian quicks and the Indian top order. Brett Lee has bowled consistently well but Sehwag and Tendulkar will fancy their chances against Tait and Johnson in particular and Ricky Ponting lacks a bowler that he can turn to to restore order if India get off to a flyer. On the other hand, if Australia can get quick wickets then India’s soft underbelly could be exposed rather sooner than they would hope and the innings could implode.

The same could be said of the Australians. The openers have had their moments, mostly against weaker opposition, and Michael Clarke looks in decent nick, but Ponting and White in particular are out of form and the tail doesn’t inspire confidence. If Zaheer Khan can make inroads with the new ball then it could be a difficult evening for the Australian batsmen.

Ultimately, though, it will probably come down to which side can hold their nerve and make fewest mistakes. In the recent past this would almost certainly have been Australia but they have, the one day series against England aside, made a habit of failing to capitalise on winning positions and they are no longer the mental titans of old. If Sehwag and Tendulkar get off to a flying start, or if Yuvraj continues his massively impressive recent form, then Australian heads could drop very quickly. It’s going to be fascinating.

The Verdict: India’s batsmen to be too good for Australia’s attack and set-up a victory.