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Cricket World Cup semi-final preview: Australia vs India

Steve Smith has been in average form against the white ball. (AFP PHOTO/ MARWAN NAAMANI)
25th March, 2015
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Australia take on India at the SCG in a resumption of the battle that raged in Australia all summer long, but this time it’s for a place in the World Cup final.

Both teams have plenty of experience in this arena, with India winning the whole shebang in 2011, beating Australia in the quarter-finals on home turf on the way.

Before that, Australia had made every World Cup final since 1996, including winning three straight from 1999 to 2007. Having not featured in the semis or final in 2011, Australia will no doubt be hungry to add another trophy to the cabinet.

Australia and India have clashed many times over the summer, with India the main visiting team, playing four Test matches and a one one-day series against each other. They know each other very well, and there’s no shortage of feeling between the two sides.

Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja have plenty of history with the likes of Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, David Warner and Brad Haddin.

It will be a case of whether India have recovered from their 2-0 loss in the Test series and a four-wicket loss in the single one dayer they played in January. On paper, there’s not too much that’s changed for the Indians. In attitude, however, there is plenty to encourage fans from India that they can make it past Australia into the final.

They’ve been flawless in this tournament, not losing a pool match and ruthlessly dispatching Bangladesh in the quarter finals.

Australia, by comparison, have had a more nervous tournament. They lost to New Zealand in a thriller in the pools, and had a brief scare against Pakistan in the quarter finals. Had Rahat Ali not dropped Shane Watson in that match, we might be looking at a completely different fixture.

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But Australia made it through that scare, and will be staring at a very strong Indian top order and a resurgent bowling line-up.

Let’s look at some of the key facets of this semi in a bit more detail.

World Cup history
The last time these two sides played in a World Cup was on Indian soil in 2011, where India knocked the Aussies out. Considering the players participating in the match coming up, it seems like this is the only really relevant fixture to discuss.

There are several surviving players from that game, including Ravi Ashwin for India, who opened the bowling. Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli were also there, with Raina contributing some valuable hitting down the order to ice the game.

For Australia, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson and Michael Clarke all bear the scars of that meeting. There’s no doubt they will be looking for some payback on home soil.

Recent history
Aside from the latest summer in Australia, the most recent series played between the two nations was in India in October and November 2013. Twice Australia set India mammoth scores, and twice Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli cruelled Australia, taking the series 3-2.

Before that they played a four-match series in the summer of 2012, which Australia won 3-1.

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Here’s the full history of ODI matches between the two nations.

Total In Australia In India Neutral
Matches played 117 42 51 24
Won by Australia 67 30 25 12
Won by India 40 10 21 9
No result 10 2 5 3

Via Wikipedia

Key match ups

Aaron Finch vs Rohit Sharma
Both players are considered century makers, and for good reason. Sharma and Finch have both proved over the past two years in all conditions that they can bat long and score big from the opening position.

Sharma has made two double centuries in one day international cricket, while Finch has six ODI hundreds in just 47 matches.

Unfortunately, both players carry a reputation of being hit or miss, with Finch under pressure in this match to repay the faith of Australian selectors.

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If Finch fires, expect him to propel to Australia to a big score. Ditto with Sharma.

Mitchell Starc vs Mohammad Shami
Starc has been the best bowler of this World Cup, bar none.

He has 18 wickets at 9.77. Ridiculous.

Shami, who was not very impressive in the Tests and limited overs matches in the Australian summer, has bounced back in a big way to claim 17 wickets at 13.29 from his six matches in the World Cup so far.

Whichever one can cause some damage at the top of the order, as well as restrict the flow of runs at the end will go a long way to helping their team win.

Virat Kohli vs Steve Smith
It’s not often that players of the class of MS Dhoni and Michael Clarke are overlooked in the big games, but they are not the two most important batsmen in their sides.

Kohli and Smith are the two standout players in the Test series played in the Australian summer, and two of the top five batsmen in World Cricket at the moment.

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Kohli, in particular, has shown that he is one of the premier one day batsmen. He keeps piling on runs in all formats, but ODIs suit his daring strokeplay and hyper-competitive nature.

Smith is a more reserved character (despite his loud calls of “no run”), but since taking up the number three spot has been Australia’s lynchpin. Warner and Finch go hard, and Smith is the insurance policy.

Both of these guys will get an opportunity to score big, and whoever takes it will go a long way to winning their team the match.

The pitch

There has been a little bit of rain around in recent days in Sydney, so the pitch may be a little greener than you might otherwise expect.

This will favour the Australians, who will look to take wickets early through Starc, Johnson and Hazlewood.

On the other hand, India will look to use Raina, Ashwin and Jadeja to slow it down to the Aussies, and extract that spin the SCG is famous for.

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It will be a good one day wicket to bat on though, and a fair match up for both sides.

The odds

Australia are strong favourites at $1.42, but expect this game to be closer than that.

Likely line-ups

It’s hard to see either side making a change to the side at this late stage.

Australia (likely):
Warner, Finch, Smith, Clarke, Maxwell, Watson, Haddin, Faulkner, Johnson, Starc, Hazlewood

India (likely):
Dhawan, R. Sharma, Kohli, Rahane, Raina, Dhoni, Jadeja, Ashwin, Shami, M Sharma, Yadav

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