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Australia’s Super Eights campaign in the World T20 2012 begins with a game against India in Colombo on Friday. The match starts 12 midnight AEST.
Australia enter the second stage of the tournament with two wins in as many games.
India have the same number of wins but will be wary of their poor Super Eights record in the previous two tournaments. They have now lost six successive games at this stage.
Shane Watson’s couple of man-of-the-match performances make him a dangerous opponent for India.
Unfortunately for them, none of the other Australian have really got going, partly because of the lack of chances.
Against Ireland they strolled to a comfortable win while the West Indies game was ended by rain only nine overs into their batting.
This leaves the Australian middle-order a bit undercooked for an important stage of the tournament like this.
When asked about this potential issue, George Bailey admitted that the middle-order hasn’t had too much time facing the bowlers but added that he hoped that Watson continued his good form.
Against the West Indies, the Australian pace bowlers also leaked a few runs on a Colombo track that could test them again. India’s batting exploded against an English attack not too dissimilar from Australia at the same ground, a fact that may not be lost on them.
India exhibited a changed line-up against England after being stretched by Afghanistan. Captain MS Dhoni was candid in his pre-match chat when he called that game as a practice game and hence admitted to be trying out a different combination.
The question everyone seemed to be asking Dhoni in his pre-match press conference was around his team’s selection. Known to keep his cards close to the chest, Dhoni surprised the media by revealing that India could go into the game with a five-bowler strategy.
It could mean that Virender Sehwag may have to sit out yet again. Zaheer Khan could make his way back into the side replacing Ashok Dinda while Piyush Chawla could be one of the three spinners in the playing 11.
Some of the special features to look out will be if Dave Warner can get going at the top, Harbhajan Singh’s battle against his old and familiar foes and how Chennai Super Kings bench-warmer Bailey goes against his captain Dhoni.
Expect a tough game.
Action begins midnight and we will bring you the live coverage of the match.
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