Cricket One Day International 22 March 2023

India vs Australia - Match Preview

The Australian tour of India has certainly been an up-and-down affair. Nothing was more extreme on either side of the spectrum than a massive ten-wicket win in the second ODI to the tourists. Both sides are on the move again ahead of the deciding match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium (“Chepauk”) in Chennai, a ground that has seen India win seven of the 13 matches played in this format. As the only touring team to win any of the last 15 ODI series in India - coming back from 2-0 down in a series decider in 2019 to win 3-2 - Australia should be as confident as anyone of achieving such a rare feat.

After a big win in the first ODI, India would have been hopeful of wrapping up the series early, allowing them to continue to bloodless experienced players such as Umran Malik. That won’t be the case after India suffered their quickest ODI loss (by balls remaining in an inning) owing to their top order once again failing to get going. Outside of the excellent 75 made by KL Rahul in the first ODI, the Indian top five have averaged just 9.22 runs each in this series.

Virat Kohli was the only batter to really get any momentum together in the second ODI with his 31 from 35 balls. For a short period, Kohli and Rohit looked on top, scoring at 8rpo before Rohit managed to edge one through to Steve Smith giving Mitch Starc his second. From there the wickets were consistent with India losing 51/5 in the powerplay. There were absolutely no highlights for the Indian bowlers, who clearly didn’t want to fight against the Aussies, with 0/25 from three overs from Axar Patel as the best figure. It was a major loss for India in a World Cup year, but perhaps it was the loss India needed to have.

Australia couldn’t have been happier with their performance in the second ODI and nothing highlighted that than the smiles on Travis Head and Mitch Marsh after their performances with the bat. While the batting was dominant, it was all Mitch Starc who set up the incredible win, as his ninth five-wicket ODI haul from 109 matches put him third on the all-time list and equal first for Aussie bowlers. His ODI form in World Cup years is borderline insane, averaging 16.72 in the years 2015, 2019 and 2023 compared with 24.48 in non-World Cup years.

Sean Abbott and Nathan Ellis both chipped in with the ball making the most of the seam movement that was available early. The highlights of the match though all came off the opening pairs’ bats with Head and Marsh both scoring half-centuries off 29 and 28 balls respectively. If going hard from ball one is now the tactic from Australia, their supporters should see some massive scores over the next six months. The win came in just 11 overs, being Australia's third-fastest ODI win after previous thrashings of the USA and West Indies.

📋 Key battle: Now with eight wickets to his name in the series, Mitchell Starc can finally claim Virat Kohli as one of his 292 white ball international scalps. The Indian legend now averages 120 in ODIs and T20Is against the left-arm to go with an H2H average of 73 in Test cricket. If Kohli can have someone bat around him then India might be able to get past Australia’s danger man.

⚡ Stat attack: India has won 16 of 20 ODIs at home since the start of 2020.

• The average score batting first at this venue is just 231, the lowest of the series to date.
• Shubman Gill has five international centuries across all formats from 17 innings this year.
• Starc has dismissed Gill (2/12 from 18 balls) and Suryakumar Yadav (2/0 from 2 balls) twice each in this series.
• Cameron Green has gone wicketless in ten of his 15 ODI bowling innings.
• Adam Zampa v Rohit Sharma - 119 runs, 124 balls, 4 wickets, 29.80 average.
• Kuldeep Yadav has never dismissed Travis Head in an ODI or T20I, going for 49 runs from 46 balls.
• Ravindra Jadeja has dismissed Steve Smith seven times in ODI cricket at an average of 33.10. Smith has averaged 62.33 in ODI cricket in the last two years, passing 50 five times from 12 innings.
• The team to win the toss has won 65% of matches at this ground.