Cricket World Cup 2019 Preview – June 9th, 2019
This is one of the most mouthwatering games that the World Cup group stage is going to throw our way. Reigning champions Australia will try and keep their perfect start to their title defence going as they face the powerhouse that is India. They opened their tournament with a win and will be looking to gain some big momentum now and make a big statement at the same time.
India v Australia WInner Odds*
India 4/5
Australia even money
* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on June 7th, 2019 at 10:44 p.m.)
Can Australia beat India?
This may well be a question which comes up later in the tournament in the knockout stage. Both teams will be expected to take a berth in the semifinals. Because of the timing of the end of the IPL season, India’s World Cup campaign started later than others. They opened their campaign in midweek against South Africa and duly produced a 6 wicket victory over the Proteas in Southampton.
That was a decent enough warm up from them and they will be happy at having kept South Africa under 230. So now the level of competition increases for them as they step out at the Oval against Australia. Captain Virat Kohli is the 2/1 favourite to be India’s top batsman* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on June 7th, 2019 at 10:44 p.m.). He gave his wicket away pretty cheaply for 18. Fortunately for them, Rohit Sharma powered off a 122 not out score to get them across the line pretty comfortably.
India are such a well-rounded team, they really are. They arguably have brought the best bowling attack to the party, including Jasprit Bumrah, the top ODI bowler in the world. When you throw in the batting threats of Dhawan, Sharma, Kholi, Rahul and Dhoni then they are going to take some beating.
India v Australia Head to Head
These two have been pretty familiar with each other this year. They met in Australia in January with India taking a 2-1 series win there. They then met back up in March for a five day series in India. There was a turnaround in fortunes there as Australia fought back from having lost the first two matches to claim a 3-2 series win. In the last 21 ODI matches between the two of them, India are W9 D11.
Can Australia keep up their momentum?
Australia, without question, are peaking at the right time. They are right back in the groove of things and they mean business. This is the World Cup and you expect them to turn up and show their power. That is what they have done so far. They had an easy opening match, easing their way into the tournament with a seven-wicket victory over Afghanistan. They then took a win over the West Indies, but it was a match in which the Australians were under pressure.
West Indies had Australia on the ropes at a couple of points in the match. They had Australia at 5-79 at one point and things seemed to be falling apart from them. But two special inning from Steve Smith and Nathan Coulter-Nile saved their skin a bit. The Windies looked to still be in with a decent chance of hitting their target of 289 when they were at 5-190 in the 34th over. But when Shai Hope had gone there was no one left backing up captain Jason Holder to get the runs on the board.
So Australia certainly bent a bit but did not break. But then that’s the sign of champions. What saw them over the line was some superb bowling performances from Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. Starc completed a five-fer. Both returning batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner have already posted telling scores. Their experience has been such a tailing factor in Australia getting back on their feet. Warner is the 11/4 favourite to be Australia’s top batsman* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on June 7th, 2019 at 10:44 p.m.).
Predictions
What a game we could have on the cards here. Both should reach the semi-finals regardless, but they will be as eager as the other to make a big bold statement by winning this match. Australia had a couple of star performers to get them out of a sticky situation against the Windies, and India are a far more talented, well-rounded team on paper. It’s going to be close, it’s going to be high class. India may just nick it at 4/5 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on June 7th, 2019 at 10:44 p.m.)
