 A thumping performance by India in the second game of the seven game series
against Australia meant that the two teams will go into the third game
at Delhi on Saturday with the series tied at 1-1. And with the Aussies having
suffered injury woes, and not knowing whether they would have the services of
their main guys will be a big issue.
Click for Live Score Card of India vs AustraliaAustralia did not have the services of Brett Lee and James Hopes for
the second game. And there is a good chance that the two may not be a part for
the third match as well. Mitchell Johnson was also injured in the first game,
but took the field in the second, only to concede 75 runs in his ten overs.
This clearly means that the bowling line-up that the Aussies possess is slightly
weaker than most of the others, and would go as underdogs in the third game.
However, the biggest concern for both the sides in the third match will be
the Delhi pitch. One had already experienced the kind of wicket that was on
display in the Champions League T20, and if the ODI pitch would be anywhere
close to that, then, life could get miserable for both teams. It could also
mean that winning the toss could become equivalent to winning the game as the
pitch may play slower and lower as the game progresses.
The Indian batting flowered like it had not for some time now. M.S.Dhoni played
an innings which he had not for some time - aggressive and smashing the balls
around the park. But that did mean that he did not take his singles and twos,
apart from doing that for his partner as well, thus making it one of the best
innings for a long time. However, one must also give credit to the other two
southpaws in Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina, both of whom blitzed
to half centuries and were involved in century run partnerships with the captain.
The half century was the second in a row for the Delhi opener, but for Raina,
it would have been timely. One had already begun to think that Raina had been
losing his confidence almost steadily after being pushed down the order when
Rahul Dravid had returned in the previous series. For now though, he
looks good and the Indian batting continues to remain the strength.
On the Delhi wicket, a total of around 200-225 may prove to be match-winning.
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