If there was a pitch in this entire series that would assist the bowlers, it has to be the Mohali wicket. After the carnage, this might be a chance to fight back for the pace bowlers. Faulkner, Mckay and Johnson would be licking their lips as they can now bowl fast at the batsmen, whereas Bhuvi, Ishant and Vinay would be feeling lucky since 1 or 2 more bad performances could see them out of the playing 11 even before they notice it.

Does India have the strongest bowling line up in the world? The answer is yes. But the mind boggling fact is that in a country of over 2 billion people, India have not produced 1 world class pace bowler after the likes of Srinath and Zaheer. This match will once again be a contest between the Indian batsmen and the Aussie bowlers, and the ones who come out on top will lead their team to victory. Mohali does get a lot of dew, and if Bailey decides to bat 1st it might put his team in a spot, but well it’s his and his team management’s decision.

Team News
Team India might as well stick with the same XI, with the only possible change could be bringing in Unadkat for one of the pacers who have been ineffective till now. Their batting power is so good that they can chase down any target with a few overs to spare. On top of that, the main batsman of the team Yuvraj did not even get a bat, which further adds to the team’s batting strength. Now that Dhawan and Rohit are in form, the Aussies might find it tough to win even one of the remaining 5 games.

The Aussie batting looks good, but is nowhere equal to the power the Indians possess. However, their bowling is their biggest strength and if Johnson and Faulkner can pitch it in the right areas and trouble the batsmen, they might be in with a slim chance. Virat and Yuvraj’s wicket would be the key and if the Aussies can knock over those 2 cheaply, the match would definitely be an even contest. If bailey decides to bat 1st, as that has been the trend till now, nothing less than 350 would be a good total considering that all Indian batsmen have been in good form lately.


Probable Teams
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Dhoni (c)(wk), Ravi Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar Jaydev Unadkat

X-Factor: Ravindra ‘Sir’ Jadeja, the once assumed to be the joke of cricket had silenced some of his critics in the champions’ trophy, where he bowled superbly. However, he is once again starting to be one of those who performs for a certain time and then is a complete waste. He needs to put his hand up and perform once again, particularly after his disastrous performances in the Champions League T20, and the 2 ODI’s. He might not be needed much with the bat, but he has to do his job with the ball. With the pressure rising from the Nayar’s and the Pathan’s, ‘Sir’ Jadeja would soon be contesting for his place in the XI if he does not dish out a good performance soon. 

Australia: Aaron Finch, Philip Hughes, Shane Watson, Adam Voges, George Bailey(c), Glenn Maxwell, Brad Haddin (wk), James Faulkner, Clint Mckay, Mitchell Johnson, Xavier Doherty

X-Factor: Shame Watson is a very diverse cricketer mainly because he has so much to offer with the bat and the ball. His bowling in the last match was awful, but he made up a little with the bat. He is the most experienced cricketer in this line up and he has to be the one who goes on to score a big one, if Australia are to win. He might not be opening the bowling, but he does bowl towards the death and that is when the Indian batsmen are most dangerous. If he can contain them and pick up wickets, he deserves a pat on his back. 

Expected Result: India Win

By Sanchit Gupta

India made a laughing stock of an exceptional Australian batting effort to post 359-5 in the alloted 50 overs by spriting to their target in just 43.3 overs and winning the match by 9 wickets,all thanks to 3 incredible innings from Rohit Sharma(141 of 123 balls), Shikhar Dhawan(95 of 86 balls) and Virat Kohli(100 of 52 balls).

The Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, Rajasthan which is home to two Australian players,Shane Watson and James Faulkner who play for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL was treated to an absolute run feast as over 700 runs were scored and much to the delight of the home fans,The Indian Team came out triumphant.It wasnt a day when a bowler could proudly say the fact that he was a "bowler" as Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the only player on either side to end the game with an economy rate of less than 6 and only 4 wickets were taken by the bowlers in the whole course of the match.

Earlier, Australia won the toss and once again chose to bat which has been their strategy all through the series.Both teams were unsurprisingly unchanged for the match.India's decision of not changing their bowling combination backfired as they were clobbered for 359 runs in 50 overs with each of the top 5 Australian batsman scoring a 50 atleast. A steady opening partnership between Finch(50 of 53 balls) and Hughes(83 of 103 balls) set the tone for a big score. Shane Watson returned to form with a fluent 53 of 50 balls.Glenn Maxwell added more woes to the Indian camp with his knock of 53 of 32 balls.But,the skipper,Bailey was the man who took his side to a huge score by batting till the end,smashing 92 of just 50 balls.

India's bowling continued to be mediocre and wayward with hardly a memorable delivery bowled all day.Australia smashed 12 sixed and 36 fours with the Indian team appearing clueless on how to stop the onslaught.

Chasing a massive 360 to win,India's openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma started cautiously but still managed to keep the required rate within bounds.The duo added 176 for the opening wicket in just 26 overs before Dhawan was caught behind off the bowling of Faulkner.Kohli came in to bat at number three with India still needing another 184 to chase down Australia's mammoth 359 run target.He along with Rohit was involved in an unbroken 186-run stand for the second wicket as India reached the target with 39 balls to spare.Virat Kohli scored the fatest hundred by an Indian batsman in ODIs as he smashed an unbeaten 100 off just 52 balls,overtaking Virender Sehwag's record of a hundred off 60 balls that he made against New Zealand in 2009.In his record-breaking knock, Kohli stroked eight boundaries and seven sixes.His shots were pure cricketing strokes and not slogs that one generally associates with power-hitting and limit over cricket.

India's run chase of 360 was the best ever by an Indian side and the second best of all time.

The teams will now head to Mohali wehere they will resume the battle with the series tied at 1-1.