Australia's ODI tour of India continues this Friday night as the series heads to Rajkot for the 2nd game. Australia will be looking to wrap up a series win after a dominant performance in Mumbai in the 1st ODI.
We have a full preview and betting tips for the game below.
India Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), K. L. Rahul, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav
Australia Squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Ashton Agar, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Australia vs India 2nd ODI Betting Tips
India
The Indians will be bitterly disappointed with their all-around performance from Game 1 in Mumbai, and will no doubt come out with a chip on their shoulder on Friday night. After batting first and setting a somewhat competitive total of 255, their bowling attack failed to make any sort of inroads into the Australian batting line-up, as the tourists passed the total 12.2 overs to spare, losing zero wickets in the process. While their inibility to take a single wicket is a glaring concern, the Indians will no doubt feel it was their batting that really let them down in Game 1.
India are the No.2 ranked ODI team in the world for a reason. Their ability to put up scores of 300+, especially at home, is second to none. In fact, in their last three ODI matches prior to the Australian series, their average ODI score was a ridiculous 330. Rohit Sharma is the No.2 ranked ODI batsman in the world and will be bitterly disappointed with his outing in Mumbai, scoring just 10 runs. He piled on 258 runs at an average of 86 in India's three previous ODI matches, expect him to bounce back in a big way whether the Indians are batting first or second on Friday night.
Australia
Australia will be happy with both their bowling and batting performance from the first ODI in Mumbai. The pace trio of Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins and Kane Richardson all took multiple wickets as they restricted the Indians to 255 in 49 overs. However, it was their batting that really shone through. After a shaky BBL tournament to date, Aaron Finch found some form, blasting 110 runs from just 114 balls while his opening partner David Warner carried over his brilliant form from the Test summer with 128 off 112 balls.
The opening partnership for the Australians has caused them some problems in Test matches in recent history. However, knowing you have an in-form Finch and Warner at the top of the order in ODI matches, backed up by arguably the two best batsmen in the world in Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith at three and four, must give them extreme confidence. Labuschagne didn't need to do much in his ODI debut in Mumbai but will no doubt get a chance to showcase his brilliant form in Rajkolt. His techniquie should carry over to the ODI format and the Indian pitches. Expect him to do well in the 2nd ODI.
Labuschagne OVER 28.5 Runs
$1.88
Prediction
What an incredibly tough game to call here. On one hand you have arguably the most dominant force in ODI cricket over the past decade in India and on the other hand you have the most in-form team in the world in Australia, who are coming off a whitewash home summer. The form of the Australian pace attack is hard to overlook, a fit and firing Mitch Starc and Pat Cummins is capable of bolwing any team in the world out for under 250.
However, I just have a strong feeling that the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will come out like men possessed here after losing the first game in such uncharateristic fashion. It's not a game I'm willing to drop a large sum on because I think these two teams are so evenly matched, but I do see a lot of value in the home side here, who started as $1.60 favourites in Game 1 but have been pushed out to around $1.80 here.
