2nd Semi Final - Australia v India (26th March)

[TC123]

We are gonna get soooooooooo smashed... That Aussie batting line up is scary good... Worst part is, a whole bunch of them love playing against India.. Smith, Clarke, Watson, Maxwell, Faulkner.. All 5 have demolished our bowling attacks in ODIs so many times.. And Starc's yorkers can get anyone out, and we only have like 7 decent batting options... It is all gonna come crashing down next Thursday for us. Oh well.. T' was good while it lasted.

I hope the Indian players don't have that mindset. Get behind your team mate. NZ had their worst batting display of the tournament and still got up despite an inconvenient tea break where the Aussie bowlers got a rest and NZ had to basically open their innings twice losing momentum. India can win this

 

[Dan]

Would it be fair to say that the winner of this match will end up winning the world cup? New Zealand will struggle to play on grounds larger than tennis courts and SA will probably choke under pressure.

Nah. Both of those are really lazy analyses IMO. NZ's wins haven't been related to the size of grounds whatsoever, and South Africa just won their first-ever World Cup knockout game, so we can't say choking is nearly as likely as in previous tournaments.

 

[Dan]

I'd drop Finch for this game, ftr. Open with Clarke and Warner, Smith at 3 and slot Bailey in at 4. Back them to bat 30 overs and then let the icing do their thing.

 

[honestbharani]

Finch is the one who can hurt India though.. So I don't think they will drop him for Bailey... Last time I saw Bailey bat in an ODI, he was pretty much doing what people accuse Finch of doing. HItting good looking shots straight to the fielders.. And it is even more inexcusable to do it from the middle order than at the top.

 

[harsh.ag]

If you drop Finch, then it should be for Marsh and no one else.

 

[biased indian]

its a 70-30in favour of aus right now .but if we bat first i will say its a 50-50 game ..as for all the hype with australia it has been basically aus batsmen and starc show none of the other bowlers has been that great,like yesterday almost all the wickets of pakistan had been a gift. hope we wont do that mistake..so if we bat first and is able to wether the starc storm initially i would say we have a very good chance of pulling this off

 

[Swingpanzee]

i'm curious whether India's bowlers will us (and probably overdo) short ball tactics after Wahab's spell yesterday. They shouldn't, but it's India so who knows.

 

[OverratedSanity]

i'm curious whether India's bowlers will us (and probably overdo) short ball tactics after Wahab's spell yesterday. They shouldn't, but it's India so who knows.

Was about to say this actually.

 

[Shri]

i'm curious whether India's bowlers will us (and probably overdo) short ball tactics after Wahab's spell yesterday. They shouldn't, but it's India so who knows.

Yadav could match the speed from yesterday if he really pushes himself hard for an over or three but he isn't going to sustain it or keep it in the right areas for long. Too erratic. The others would be pulled without mercy since they don't have the pace.We shouldn't try anything different. Our current style of bowling is focused on being economical and letting batsmen make mistakes. Smith and Clarke might score big with a tactic like that(lots of 1s and 2s followed by boundaries after 30 overs) but I am confident we can get the openers cheaply. Best bet is to restrict them below 320 and back the batsmen to chase it. Everything would become completely different if the spinners get assistance from the wicket and apply pressure as a pair. If Jadeja keeps his end tight, you never know.

 

[halba]

finch wont be dropped. matches up well with the indian attack, as do most aussie batters.

aussies plan will be just try and see off ashwin, and attack the other bowlers.

 

[Spikey]

Finch is the one who can hurt India though..

as opposed to david warner, steve smith, michael clarke, glenn maxwell, shane watson, brad haddin andjames faulkner


they wont drop finch, and if finch/warner broke a hand, they'd probably say "Watson has found a home in the middle order" or whatever rubbish and pick someone else to open, be it haddin, clarke or noted wildcard Mitch Marsh

 

[viriya]

its a 70-30in favour of aus right now .but if we bat first i will say its a 50-50 game ..as for all the hype with australia it has been basically aus batsmen and starc show none of the other bowlers has been that great,like yesterday almost all the wickets of pakistan had been a gift. hope we wont do that mistake..so if we bat first and is able to wether the starc storm initially i would say we have a very good chance of pulling this off

Hazlewood has looked like a McGrath-clone. But yea Johnson has looked average. Starc obviously the main issue.

 

[Team_Straya]

i'm curious whether India's bowlers will us (and probably overdo) short ball tactics after Wahab's spell yesterday. They shouldn't, but it's India so who knows.

They tried to bouncing Johnson during one of the resent test matches. He ended up scoring 50+.

 

[Debris]

They tried to bounce Johnson during one of the resent test matches. Boy was that a bad move...

I would like to encourage any Indian bowlers reading this thread to bowl short. Major weakness to exploit there. Just watch last match against Pakistan.

 

[Swingpanzee]

Hazlewood has looked like a McGrath-clone. But yea Johnson has looked average. Starc obviously the main issue.

Kinda disagree. Not been his best, but he's bowled pretty well. I do agree he's the costliest of the three that have been mentioned.

 

[halba]

I would like to encourage any Indian bowlers reading this thread to bowl short. Major weakness to exploit there. Just watch last match against Pakistan.

left arm pace of wahab short? india dont have a single left armer in the attack. all medium fast right armers which wont threaten. shami & mohit 130kph, yadav is 135-140kph. not going to threaten the power packed aussie batting lineup which bats up to no.8 in haddin and which isnt threatened by spin either(clarke and smith, good use of the feet)

 

[Arachnodouche]

Don't see the need for pessimism from Indian fans. India's best in the tournament so far has been better than what Australia have put out. If both teams play to current form, India are going through.

 

[eroticfishcake]

left arm pace of wahab short? india dont have a single left armer in the attack. all medium fast right armers which wont threaten. shami & mohit 130kph, yadav is 135-140kph. not going to threaten the power packed aussie batting lineup which bats up to no.8 in haddin and which isnt threatened by spin either(clarke and smith, good use of the feet)

interesting.

 

[TNT]

Don't see the need for pessimism from Indian fans. India's best in the tournament so far has been better than what Australia have put out. If both teams play to current form, India are going through.

So what have they put out that has been better than Starc and Maxwell?.

 

[Arachnodouche]

So what have they put out that has been better than Starc and Maxwell?.

The team has had all bases covered just in terms of overall composure and match reading ability. It's not an aesthetically pleasing side on the ground while bowling or fielding, but they look sharp and seem like they have their wits about them. These players are used to playing big games too, so I definitely think the Australians are going to be feeling more pressure on their home turf.