Twenty20 / Andrew Hughes / 06 May 2010 /

These two old rivals would be expected to qualify for the semi-finals ahead of West Indies and an out of sorts Sri Lanka and could well meet again in the final. Andrew Hughes previews the opening game of Group F in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Venue and Conditions

Wednesday's two matches at the Kensington Oval were played on a pitch that was something of a throwback to Caribbean tracks of old. A reasonably hard surface offered pace and bounce for the quicker bowlers and hopefully that will still be the case for the wickets used for Friday's games.

Team News

Australia were originally planning a four man pace attack for this pitch, a plan that was scuppered when Brett Lee had to go home and Mitchell Johnson developed an elbow infection. Johnson should be fit here though and will come in, either for Ryan Harris or spinner Steven Smith.

Gautam Gambhir has recovered from his groin injury and will return to the top of the order with Dinesh Karthik stepping down. India's only real dilemma is over whether to continue with Yusuf Pathan in the middle order, given that Australia are likely to probe his weakness against the short ball. Rohit Sharma is the likeliest alternative.

Match Odds

This has the makings of the game of the tournament. Neither team were troubled in their group matches and both would fancy their chances of winning the competition. India are the stronger of the two with the bat, whereas Australia hold the edge with the ball. The pitch could be the deciding factor and the Aussie pace attack could prove a real handful on it, so I will be siding with them at odds of [1.86]

Top Batsman

Suresh Raina was in blistering form against South Africa, but he will receive a real examination of his technique against short pitched bowling from the Aussies. I think there are signs that Yuvraj is getting back into form and at [7.0] he represents excellent value in a wide open market.

Australia shuffled their middle order a little against Bangladesh so it probably pays to stick with the top three and with Michael Clarke playing an anchor role, either David Warner at [4.0] or Shane Watson at [4.0] look solid bets.

Featured Market

Murali Vijay has continued to impress after his successful IPL and he is worth backing at [2.0] or better against his more famous opening partner in the 'Vijay v Gambhir' market.

Trivia

Yuvraj Singh has the highest strike rate in World Twenty20 cricket at 159.03

Andrew Hughes says: Back Yuvraj Singh to top score for India at [7.0]

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