Australia eye historic series sweep over India: 3rd ODI preview
What's the story
The third and final ODI of the series between India and Australia will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on October 25. The match is a dead rubber, with Australia already having won the series after clinching a two-wicket victory in Adelaide. Despite India's valiant efforts, they were mostly outplayed in the second ODI, where captain Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli lost their wickets early on. Here is the preview of the final ODI.
Details
Pitch report, conditions, and more
The SCG is known for its batting-friendly conditions, with the ball coming nicely onto the bat. However, fast bowlers will have to work hard to get movement and take wickets. As the match progresses, spinners are likely to come into play. The match, which will get underway at 9:00am IST, will be telecast live on Star Sports Networks in India, with live streaming available on the JioHotstar app and website.
Information
What does the recent record state?
Teams batting first have emerged victorious in each of the last nine ODIs at the SCG, as per ESPNcricinfo. The streak started back to 2016 and includes several matches where Australia have defeated other teams by significant margins.
H2H
A look at head-to-head record
India and Australia have faced each other 154 times in ODI cricket, according to ESPNcricinfo. Out of these encounters, India have won 58 matches while Australia have emerged victorious on 86 occasions (NR: 10). When it comes to games played on Australian soil, the two teams have clashed 56 times, with India winning just 14 matches and losing 40 (NR: 2).
Bowling prowess
Hazlewood has been the standout bowler in the series
Josh Hazlewood has been the standout bowler in the series, completely pinning down India's top order. The absence of Hardik Pandya has also left India looking unbalanced. They have stuck with the same XI for both games to no avail. Meanwhile, Australia's fringe players like Matt Short, Cooper Connolly, Mitch Owen, and Matthew Renshaw have made valuable contributions in their successful run chase in Adelaide.
Historic opportunity
Can Australia script history?
As per ESPNcricinfo, Australia have never swept India in a bilateral ODI series, which adds to the motivation of a team that is currently in good spirits after a patchy run in 50-over cricket. The SCG is expected to witness a pro-India crowd amid a sold-out stadium. Notably, Team India has returned with five wins across 21 concluded ODIs at the SCG. As the SCG track is expected to assist spinners, India might bring in Kuldeep Yadav in the XI.
XIs
Here are the probable XIs
Australia (Probable XI): Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Matthew Short, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey (wk), Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Xavier Bartlett, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood. India (Probable XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy/Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, and Arshdeep Singh.
Performers
Here are the key performers
Rohit Sharma has scored 333 runs across five ODIs at the SCG at an average of 66.60. KL Rahul played a 76-run knock here in 2020. Mitchell Starc has two five-wicket hauls against the Indian team in ODI cricket. Mitchell Marsh has an average and strike rate of 58.88 and 109.05 respectively versus India in ODIs (530 runs).
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