In-form batting gives India advantage
India are the more consistent batting side going into the quarter-final, but Australia's excellent big-match record balances things
Being pre-tournament favourites, Australia and India were not expected to meet earlier than the semi-finals. However, Australia's surprise loss to Pakistan in their final game has meant that they play India for the first time in World Cups in the quarter-final stage.
Played | Australia | India | W/L ratio (Australia) | |
Overall | 104 | 61 | 35 | 1.74 |
Since 2005 | 24 | 12 | 8 | 1.50 |
In India (2000-2007) | 17 | 11 | 5 | 2.20 |
In India after 2007 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1.33 |
In global tournaments | 13 | 8 | 4 | 2.00 |
Australia won 11 of the 16 ODIs played against India in India between 2000 and 2007. The retirement of Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn has significantly affected Australia's batting strength. In ODIs between the two sides before 2007, Australia averaged over 42 and scored at 5.73 runs per over while India averaged less than 30 and scored at a lower rate. In ODIs after 2007, India have done a lot better, averaging over 35 and scoring at 5.58 runs per over, a rate slightly higher than Australia's. Despite the loss of top players, Australia have been the best batting side in ODIs in India since 2008.
Team | Period | Matches | W/L ratio | Runs per wicket(batting) | Run rate |
Australia | 2000-2007 | 15 | 2.20 | 42.48 | 5.73 |
India | 2000-2007 | 15 | 0.45 | 29.88 | 5.22 |
Australia | 2008 onwards | 9 | 1.33 | 41.75 | 5.40 |
India | 2008 onwards | 9 | 0.75 | 35.31 | 5.58 |
India's top three have been in top form in the World Cup, averaging more than 50 with a strike rate over 102. Australia's top three batsmen have been less successful with an average of 43.06 and strike rate around 80. Ricky Ponting, one of only four batsmen to score over 2000 runs against India in ODIs, has had an especially poor run of form. In ODIs since 2009, India's top order has been far more impressive than Australia's with a better average and strike rate. Australia will be concerned about the inability of the top-order batsmen to convert their half-centuries into hundreds. They have had six fifties in the World Cup so far but not a single century.
Team | Batting position | Average | Strike rate | 100s | 50s |
Australia | Top order (1-3) | 38.06 | 80.85 | 13 | 55 |
India | Top order (1-3) | 42.40 | 92.81 | 18 | 38 |
Australia | Middle order (4-8) | 36.31 | 85.96 | 4 | 58 |
India | Middle order (4-8) | 35.36 | 86.58 | 13 | 35 |
Australia's decision to go into the tournament with a pace-heavy attack has been inspired by the fact that it has been a successful strategy for them in the last few years. While they have leaked a few runs in the first few overs of most matches, they have picked up wickets at regular intervals. The pace trio of Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait will be a huge threat for an Indian line-up which is far more adept at handling spin. The bowling stats clearly show that Australia's pace attack has been far more potent than India's in recent ODIs. India have relied on their spinners to provide the breakthroughs in most matches leading up to the tournament but in this World Cup, Zaheer Khan has been the most impressive of their bowlers. In the previous game against West Indies, India opened with R Ashwin and are likely to do the same against an Australian top order who generally find it easier to score off fast bowling.
Team | Bowler type | Matches | Wickets | Average | ER | 4WI | 5WI |
Australia | pace | 77 | 453 | 27.71 | 4.87 | 12 | 8 |
India | pace | 69 | 247 | 34.79 | 5.71 | 7 | 0 |
Australia | spin | 77 | 106 | 36.27 | 4.86 | 3 | 0 |
India | spin | 69 | 205 | 36.24 | 4.95 | 3 | 2 |
Lee and Johnson have been two of the most successful bowlers against India in ODIs in the last few years. Lee, who has been superb in the tournament so far, has dismissed Tendulkar nine times in ODIs, the most by any bowler. Since 2000, he has picked up Tendulkar's wicket seven times while conceding just 4.17 runs per over. Despite Virender Sehwag scoring at nearly eight runs per over off Johnson, he has been dismissed four times while scoring a total of just 62 runs. The fast-bowling pair has been highly successful against Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni too. Sehwag, who has scored nearly 75% of his runs in boundaries, and Dhoni have been the only two Indian batsmen to score at more than five runs per over off the two bowlers.
Batsman | Dismissals | Average | Scoring rate | Boundary % |
Sachin Tendulkar | 10 | 34.90 | 4.48 | 60.17 |
Virender Sehwag | 7 | 20.00 | 5.71 | 74.28 |
Gautam Gambhir | 7 | 15.00 | 3.98 | 38.09 |
Yuvraj Singh | 6 | 17.16 | 3.86 | 44.66 |
MS Dhoni | 7 | 21.85 | 5.15 | 49.67 |