India A look to surprise Australia A in tri-series final

Image
Press Trust of India Chennai
Last Updated : Aug 13 2015 | 4:57 PM IST
Thoroughly outplayed by Australia A in the league stage, India A will have to play out of their skin to upstage the in-form team from Down Under when the two sides clash in the ODI tri-series final here tomorrow.
A barely fit South Africa are out of contention after losing all their matches, done in to an extent by the food poisoning which left 10 of their players hospitalised.
India have made the final owing to massive wins over this beleaguered side. Against Australia A, however, the story has been one of disappointment.
Neither the batting nor the bowling has been quite upto the mark against the Aussies barring a couple of players, who have sparkled.
Opener Mayank Agarwal has been one such bright spot with a tally of 377 runs from four matches to be placed on top ahead of Aussie Joe Burns (228 runs) in the leading run-getters list in the tri-series. Mayank, in fact, played out a sensational 176-run knock against South Africa A today in the team's final preliminary match.
Skipper Unmukt Chand (211) has also got three fifties in four games but failed to fire in the team's previous league match against the Australians.
These two in-form batsmen will shoulder the major share of responsibility but the troika of Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, Kedar Jadhav will also have to deliver against a very sharp Australian attack.
The Australian attack has been in fantastic form and has mastered the conditions like no other. The pace-spin combination of Gurinder Sandhu and Ashton Agar occupy the top two spots in the highest wicket-takers' list of the tournament.
While Agar is in pole position with 10 scalps, five of them coming against India in the previous match, Sandhu has six to his credit.
Add to this, their batsmen have also displayed splendid form with skipper Usman Khwaja, Burns and Callum Ferguson delivering as expected.
Given the consistency with which Australia A have so far performed in the tournament, they would definitely start as favourites but the hosts might just spring a surprise.
*Subscribe to Business Standard digital and get complimentary access to The New York Times

Smart Quarterly

₹900

3 Months

₹300/Month

SAVE 25%

Smart Essential

₹2,700

1 Year

₹225/Month

SAVE 46%
*Complimentary New York Times access for the 2nd year will be given after 12 months

Super Saver

₹3,900

2 Years

₹162/Month

Subscribe

Renews automatically, cancel anytime

Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans

Exclusive premium stories online

  • Over 30 premium stories daily, handpicked by our editors

Complimentary Access to The New York Times

  • News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic

Business Standard Epaper

  • Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share

Curated Newsletters

  • Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox

Market Analysis & Investment Insights

  • In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor

Archives

  • Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997

Ad-free Reading

  • Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements

Seamless Access Across All Devices

  • Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app

More From This Section

First Published: Aug 13 2015 | 4:57 PM IST

Next Story