Australia Cricket / Ed Hawkins / 22 October 2010 /

India and Australia are in the holiday paradise of Goa for the final ODI. But Ed Hawkins argues that the Aussies do not want to be there

Team news
The song Ain't Goin' to Goa by British band Alabama 3 is a fitting soundtrack for the final one-day international. With Doug Bollinger and Mike Hussey humming the tune as they leave for home, Australia appear to have thrown in the towel in their bid to level the series.

It leaves the tourists pathetically under resourced for the contest. They have only 12 players left in India, and not a recognised class act with the ball among them. Bollinger, who is struggling with an abdominal strain, missed the second match and was sorely missed.

With Hussey absent, Australia are now weak with the bat. Hussey made 69 at No 4 and will be replaced by Callum Ferguson, who is an allrounder.

India, of course, are without - take a deep breath - Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh but their strength in depth is commendable. In the absence of such vaunted batsmen for example, Virat Kohli made a century and Suresh Raina, with a 50, came to the fore.

"The way we approached the game was fantastic," said Kris Srikkanth, chairman of the Indian team's selection committee. "The good sign is that the youngsters are putting up their hands and taking up responsibility. It has proved that we have strong bench strength. It's always heartening to see youngsters winning matches for you. It is a good sign for any country."

Venue and conditions
There have only been three matches played at the Nehru Stadium, Fatorda in Marga this decade so there is little ground form for punters to go on.

Those three matches produced scores of 230, 294 and 265 in first innings, which suggests a sluggish pitch. However, four of the six matches in total played have been won chasing. Something of a contradiction.

The weather forecast is not great and thunderstorms threaten the full 50-overs being bowled.

Match odds
India are [1.81] for victory to claim the series 2-0 with Australia [2.20]. This is a flip flop from the prices for the first and second matches. About time, too.

But just as India were underrated then, they remain so. They should be [1.60] against an Australia team weakened even more after the five-wicket defeat in game two. Simply it is the wrong price, so fill your boots.

There is an argument that a slow surface or a rain-hindered game will bring the sides closer together. That may well be fair enough but count the number of specialist batsmen in the Australia side and then count the number of bowlers they have with experience of performing in the most testing conditions in ODI cricket.

The answers, respectively, are four and zero. That is not enough to warrant confidence.

Top batsman
With Michael Hussey gone, it is probable that Michael Clarke's price for top Australia runscorer is going to take a pounding. A centurion in Visakhapatnam, Clarke is [4.60]. He is [2.00] for a 50. Shaun Marsh and Tim Paine are the openers and are both priced at [5.30].

MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, just like in the previous contest, have ground form. Dhoni made 67 not out to guide India to a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the last outing in 2007. It was a top-bat effort.

Yuvraj hit a 76-ball 103 against England in 2006. He warmed up nicely for his latest visit with a half-century.

Recommended bet: Back India at [1.81]

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