Australia take on India in the fourth match of the Commonwealth Bank series at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide.
The home team recorded their second win in the tournament when they nudged out Sri Lanka in the previous game at the WACA in Perth. They looked better of the two sides throughout the game but were pushed into the corner by a superb effort from Angelo Mathews that allowed Sri Lanka to run them close.
In the end, Australia will be happy to take that second successive win, allowing them the luxury of the top spot in the points table.
India go into the game with a loss and a win in the tournament. They went down to Australia in the first leg of the competition in a lop-sided game before coming back to defeat Sri Lanka in the second match. While they were woeful against Australia, and they improved with their bowling in the Sri Lanka game, their batting continued to give them nightmares.
Australia could go into the match with one change in the batting department. Peter Forrest, who was rumoured to play in the previous match, could now get a chance given that Michael Hussey has been given a break in this game. This also gives respite to Dave Warner at the top of the order, who hasn’t been among the runs since that swashbuckling century in the Perth Test match.
The bowling order could remain similar to the previous game, but given India’s difficulties against pace, Australia could also bring in all-rounder Mitchell Marsh in place of Hussey.
India’s captain MS Dhoni said that he wanted to give Rohit Sharma a long enough run and to do that, he will need to rotate the top three batsmen. In the first game, Virender Sehwag was kept out while Gautam Gambhir missed the second game. It will be foolhardy to break the rhythm again by dropping Sachin Tendulkar in the third game – instead, Sehwag and Tendulkar can be given a go for another two matches before they get in Gambhir.
The bowling, which performed admirably against Sri Lanka should remain the same for India.
Australia will go in as favourites but the Indian batsmen could come into their own on an easier pitch at Adelaide.
The Australia v India 4th ODI of the Commonwealth Bank series will be played from 3.20 am GMT, February 12.
