In-form sides meet in final warm-up clash

India takes on Australia in both teams’ second and final warm-up match ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 in Cardiff on Tuesday (June 4). Both teams are heading into the game on the back of comprehensive wins on Saturday.

While centuries from Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik powered India’s successful chase against Sri Lanka in Edgbaston, Australia rode on Shane Watson’s 98-ball 135 to beat West Indies in Cardiff. This match, which is also the last of the warm-up matches, will provide both sides with a chance to settle on a strong combination ahead of their league stage encounters.

India’s batting unit had looked confident against Sri Lanka and the batsmen would hope to continue the good work as they will be tested against the Australian seamers who could pose a stiffer challenge than the Sri Lankan pace attack. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, who fell cheaply against Sri Lanka, will both be particularly keen to get among the runs.

India’s bowling is likely to raise some concerns for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain. Apart from Vinay Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja who beat the batsmen on a number of occasions, none of the other bowlers looked threatening against Sri Lanka, who piled up 333 for 5.

Unlike the Indian bowlers, the Australian attack did a fairly good job restricting West Indies to 256 for 9. Mitchell Starc made early inroads and ended with figured of 4 for 29. Mitchell Johnson, who seemed off-colour against West Indies, could prove to be a handful along with Starc and James Faulkner in conditions that favour swing bowling.

The last time the two sides met in the international arena, India emerged 4-0 victors in a home Test series, and Michael Clarke, the Australia captain, will be keen that his side produce a much improved performance, even though the format is different and this is a warm-up clash. A good performance in the Champions Trophy will also give Australia a much needed boost ahead of the Ashes series that follows.

Teams (from): India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni(capt, wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Irfan Pathan, R Vinay Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

Australia: Michael Clarke(capt), George Bailey, David Warner, David Warner, Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Adam Voges, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade (wk), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Johnson, Xavier Doherty, Nathan Coultier-Nile, Clint McKay.