In the 51st match of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Australia and India will cross swords in an important Super Eights fixture. This match will be played at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia.
Such is the nature of Group 1 of Super Eights that none of the four teams have qualified while no one has been eliminated either. India is the best placed to finish at the top of the charts, as they have won both of their Super Eights matches so far and are placed at the top of the standings.
But when it comes to Australia, they might be in a do-or-die situation in this match. After defeating Bangladesh, they lost against Afghanistan which keeps them tied on points with Rashid Khan’s team. If they lose against India as well and Afghanistan defeats Bangladesh, the Aussies will be eliminated.
What has happened so far?
Australia had a good start to the tournament as the Kangaroos won their first match by 39 runs against Oman and then beat arch-rivals England by 36 runs. In their last two Group B matches, the Mitchell Marsh-led team defeated Namibia and Scotland by 9 wickets and 5 wickets respectively.
The Aussies had a good start to the Super Eights as well, as they defeated Bangladesh by 28 runs in a rain-affected game. But they suffered their first defeat in the last match against Afghanistan, losing out by 21 runs and hence jeopardising their semi-final qualification.
Like their opponents, morning showed the day for India, as they started their journey with an 8-wicket win over Ireland. Pakistan did cause them some problems, but Rohit Sharma’s men won that match by 6 runs, before defeating the United States of America by 7 wickets.
The last Group A match against Canada was washed out, while India started their Super Eights journey with a 47-run victory against Afghanistan. In their previous fixture, the Men in Blue handed Bangladesh a 50-run defeat.
Head to Head Record
The head-to-head records between these two teams are inclined in favour of India. The men in blue have met Australia 31 times in T20I cricket and have won 19 of those matches. Australia won 11 matches, while one match did not produce any result.
The last meeting between India and Australia in T20I was back in December last year. India won that match in Bengaluru by 6 runs, thanks to a half-century from Shreyas Iyer and a three-wicket haul from Mukesh Kumar.
Key Players
Marcus Stoinis (Australia): Like India, Australia will also expect a strong performance from their number one all-rounder – Marcus Stoinis. He has scored 167 runs already in this tournament, with an average of more than 50 and a strike rate of nearly 170.
But that is not all, as Stoinis has been superb with the ball in hand too. With his medium-pace bowling, he has picked up 8 wickets at an average of just over 10 and an economy rate of just over 7.
Stoinis started with a 67-run knock and a three-wicket haul against Oman, after which he scored 30 runs and got a wicket against England. He scalped 2 more wickets against Namibia, while against Scotland, he scored 59 runs. In the last two matches against Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Stoinis has picked up a total of 2 wickets.
Hardik Pandya has come up trumps for the country
Hardik Pandya (India): While there was a lot of debate about his selection in the Indian squad after a poor Indian Premier League season for Mumbai Indians, India’s vice-captain Hardik Pandya has come up trumps for his country once again on the international stage.
With the ball, Pandya has picked up 8 wickets at an average of under 15 and an economy rate of just over 6. With the bat, the all-rounder has scored 89 runs at a strike rate of over 140.
Pandya started his campaign with a three-wicket haul against Ireland and then followed it up with two wickets each against both Pakistan and the USA. He went wicketless against Afghanistan but scored 32 runs, while against Bangladesh, he scored 50 runs and took 1 wicket.
Predicted XIs
Australia: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh ©, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
India: Rohit Sharma ©, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
Prediction
There is hardly anything to separate these two giants of international cricket, whenever they meet in any tournament. But considering that Australia has looked shaky at times while India has mostly been bulletproof, it can be said that the latter will start this match as the favorites.