Match Facts: Australia V India

Glenn Maxwell’s big-hitting will be up against Amit Mishra’s leg-spin, which has been a revelation in the T20 tournament

India has been in top form in this tournament and has fired on all cylinders so far. Having already qualified for the T20 semi-finals – the first team to do so – India will look to keep its winning streak intact and head into the knockouts with confidence.


Australia, on the other hand, has failed to live up to expectations, losing their first two matches to Pakistan and West Indies team. Despite having been billed as one of the favourites at the start of the tournament and their batsmen, especially the top-order, in peak form, victory has been remained elusive, something that will want to fix in a hurry.

They are going ahead in Group 2 encounter, here are some key facts.

Facts:

These teams have won four matches apiece of the previous eight T20 meetings. 

India won the last meeting, at Rajkot in October 2013 – it scored 202/4 batting second to record the joint-third highest successful T20 run chase. 

Yuvraj Singh has scored 187 runs in five T20I innings against Australia,and his strike rate of 183.3 and at an average of 62.3 . Only Gautam Gambhir (197) has hit more in T20s between these teams. 

 Shane Watson will become the first Australian to reach 40 T20 wickets , If he takes three wickets .

Approaching Milestones:

Shane Watson needs two wickets to pass Mitchell Johnson as Australia’s leading T20 wicket-taker. 

David Warner will become the first player to represent Australia 40 times in T20s.

Key Battles:

Glenn Maxwell v Amit Mishra

Australia team has relied heavily on Glenn Maxwell in the tournament so far and whilst questions will be asked of its bowlers – totals of 175 and 178 have not been enough to secure a victory – there is no question the top order has under-performed. 

Maxwell has hit the two best T20 scores of his career in this T20 event, with his 119 runs coming at a strike rate of 216.4. Most of the players to face at least 20 balls in the tournament, Glenn Maxwell has perhaps unsurprisingly played the highest percentage of attacking shots: 84%. 

Amit Mishra has been a revelation in this T20 tournament, suggesting his stop-start international career has plenty of life in it. He has taken 7 wickets at an average of 9.42 and strike rate of 10.2 in India’s 3 matches, with an economy rate of 5.5.