M.S. Dhoni's gloves controversy will take centrestage even as India and Australia look to iron out the flaws and bring their best to the table when they lock horns in a marquee World Cup 2019 encounter at the Kennington Oval on Sunday.
India eased past South Africa in their first game while the Aussies had to struggle against the West Indies. In the end, the Aussies rode on their proven performers and the surprise package in Nathan Coulter-Nile to post a victory. In their first World Cup tie, the defending champions made short work of lesser lights Afghanistan.
India, on the other hand, had leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and pace ace Jasprit Bumrah to thank for their spirited bowling displays to keep South Africa in check.
Kagiso Rabada troubled the Indian top-order a bit with his fiery pace early on, but once the initial phase was over, Rohit Sharma struck a brilliant century with good hands from Dhoni and K.L. Rahul.
Australia, led by Aaron Finch were in a spot of bother after the West Indies pacers made life difficult for them with short-pitched deliveries. It looked at one stage that they would struggle to cross even 150 after batting first, but Steve Smith stemmed the rot for them with a patient 73 before Coulter-Nile played the innings of his life, becoming the highest run-getter at No.8 in a World Cup game with his 60-ball 92.
With the ball, Mitchell Starc picked up figures of 5-44 to become the fastest bowler ever to 150 ODI wickets. India will depend on wrist spinners Chahal and Kuldeep to deliver for them with Bumrah being the constant threat for any opposition.
Expected 11
India
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal
Australia
David Warner, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa
Dream 11
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni, Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
With IANS inputs
