 India will take on Australia in the second quarter-finals of the ICC
Cricket World Cup 2011 which will be played at the Sardar Patel Ground
in Motera in Ahmedabad. India had finished second in their group by defeating
West Indies in the last group game whereas Australia went down to the Pakistanis
in the last game and that meant that the side finished third in their group.
The match-up is one that should have probably been played in the final. At least
the rankings show that, what with the Aussies at the top of the ICC rankings in
this format and India at the number two position.
Click for Live Score Card of Australia Vs India
However, given the way the two sides have played, there cannot be too much doubt
that the match-up is deserved, however, a difficult one to call when it comes
to predicting the result.
India's batting is definitely the better of the two suits that they have but even
that has not lived up to its expectations. There have been collapses galore and
in all the three games that the side played against the bigger Test playing nations,
the middle-order gave way to a disappointing batting performance.
Where the side has been able to do well is that the top-order has piled up enough
runs on the board before the collapses ensued - against England, they made 338,
against South Africa the score went to 298 and in the West Indies game, they scored
only 268 but won it.
The bowling had started off as something of a concern but seems to have improved
well since. After the first couple of games, the likes of Zaheer Khan,
Yuvraj and to an extent Harbhajan have done their bit in controlling the opposition,
resulting in their wins against Ireland, Netherlands and West Indies. When attacked,
the Indian bowling has given away runs far too easily, as was the case in the
game against England and South Africa. This spells trouble for the side against
a side like Australia.
Australia have their own issues. For one, they have not been able to bat well
in the middle order and then again, the spinners have not done too well. The second
problem was always going to be expected but it is the first issue that would rankle.
David Hussey will called on to replace White in the side whereas the side may
also think of going in with an extra pace bowler in place of a Steven Smith.
India hold the edge in the game though.
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