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Rohit Sharma was in two minds as to bat or bowl first, so he says he doesn’t mind losing the toss.
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He’s also downplaying the ‘home advantage’, arguing that the pitch has behaved differently every time. It’s a fresh deck, a dry one.
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They’re unchanged.
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India: Sharma (c), Gill, Kohli, Iyer, Patel, Rahul (wk), Pandya, Jadeja, Shami, Yadav, Chakravarthy.
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Two changes for the Aussies.
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The injured Matthew Short is replaced by Cooper Connolly at the top of the order. Tanveer Sangha replaces Spencer Johnson.
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Australia: Connolly, Head, Smith (c), Labuschagne, Inglis (wk), Carey, Maxwell, Dwarshuis, Ellis, Zampa, Sangha.
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Steve Smith didn’t hesitate. As soon as the heads call went his way, he declared his intent to “put some runs on the board and put some pressure later on”.
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We’re down to the final four, and on the evidence of the past few weeks, these are unquestionably the best teams of this year’s Champions Trophy.
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We’re kicking off the semis with a big one. India, holders of the T20 World Cup, take on Australia, holders of the 50-over World Cup. This tournament doesn’t quite rank alongside those other two, but both sides will be keen to add to the silverware back home.
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They’re both unbeaten. India, aided by the familiarity of the same hotel and playing conditions used throughout their competition – something that has been widely, and rightly, criticised – have thwacked Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand. Australia have tip-toed into the knockouts after two rained-off matches. They did spank England, though that doesn’t reveal too much about their form.
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Does this mean that India are the better prepped of the two? Possibly, but the Aussies, more than any other side, have a knack of humbling the Indians. And this is an ICC event and you’d be a fool to bet against the men in canary yellow.
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Sure there’s politics, sure there are existential questions about the format, sure there’s the stink of gerrymandering, but let’s try forget all that for a few hours. This has all the ingredients of a cracking game of cricket, one that’s too close to call and stacked with superstar talent.
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I hope you’re as excited as I am.
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If you’ve got some thought’s you want to share, be sure to ping me a mail.
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I’ll be back in about 20-odd minutes with some updates with the toss and team news to follow.
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First ball at 1pm in Dubai, 8pm in Sydney and 9am in London (does that cover enough bases?)
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Important Events
Ian [no last name] Point to hypocrisy by nodding to history:
In previous periods, teams that refused to play games in the country had problems with defaulting their games (for example, New Zealand is not playing in Kenya at the South Africa World Cup).
The same should apply to India this time, but we all know that they own the game now. Sad times.
very.
5th: Australia 31-1 (Head 26, Smith 0) My head was released. The rare width from Shami allows him to crack the scythe on the back through four covers. The lucky inner edge removes most of the stumps in his leg, but instead adds four more to his tally. A lovely cut shot then screams past the rear point.
Fourth: Australia 17-1 (Head 12, Smith 0) The first boundary of the innings is one of pure belligerents from the head. Pandia lifts the pitch slightly, and the Australian throws his hand at it and slams it into the ground for the four of them. Next, the wrist flicks and the ball arc across the boundary of the six fine legs. The backward points and two widespreads that were driven mean that they are convenient hauls for Australians.
3rd time: Australia 4-1 (Head 1, Smith 0) Something nice from shamis around the wicket, fish left-handed and then pitch for a totally long time before holding the line. Connolly continued searching for width that wasn't there, and eventually flaps his wings behind him.
Wicket! Connolly C Rahul B Shami 0 (Australia 4-1)
It's inevitable! After three consecutive swings outside the stump, and missing a mistake, Connolly gets a faint outer edge and has to go. Shami toasted him, forcing some poor strokes from his body as he was rooted in the wrinkles. To be honest, it's not a great batting. There's a nice bowling and shami on the board.
“India, which runs the world of cricket”
That's the punchy (and accurate) title Colin Gould Email:
It is likely that India will be able to play all the games in Dubai while Pakistan hosts the Champions Trophy.
All other teams (including Australia) will play all games in Pakistan (if there is no match against India). Dubai is not Pakistan and the conditions may probably be similar, but it is certainly a great advantage for the teams who played all the games there (i.e. India).
If India wasn't ready to play in Pakistan, they should have really pulled out of the competition. This precedent may be replicated in the future, but other countries doubt India will receive the favorable treatment given.
I agree that it's not fair. In theory, India should have been told to stay home, but that never happened.
Second time: Australia 3-0 (Head 1, Connolly 0) From the other end he is sliding it with Pandia. The head didn't completely resolve the deck's pace, first jumping with a lifting ball at his waist and then swinging with a pull shot that shot just above his stump. Aside from the big side of the legs, Hardik makes money with a series of dots on his whimsical head.
First time: Australia 2-0 (Head 1, Connolly 0) Shami was millimeters away from the early breakthrough. He made a mistake in his attempt at the catch on the way home and wrestled around the post rather than pouching cutting edges from the bat on his head. The head collected singles from a completely bloody drive that was stopped well with the cover. Connolly was swiped and missed in one. Apart from the wide front, it was a decent start from the ball.
I dropped my first (legal) ball!
After the first wide bowling, Shami found the cutting edge of the head blade and spooned the pitch back. Shami handed out but couldn't hold it.
The national anthem is being played, the Australian opener is suitable and launched, and we are almost ready.
Ball and shami. The head surfaces first.
It's not a great crowd so far, but it's still early in the day of work.
When I start filtering, I think I'm wearing a blue kit.
Australia clearly thinks that will change.
They switched Sheemer Johnson for Regie Sanga. Even Connolly, at the top of the order, tweak it.
Indian Team
Rohit Sharma first was in two minds about a bat or bowl, so he says he doesn't mind losing a toss.
He also downplays “home advantage” and claims that the pitch behaves differently every time. It's a fresh deck, a dry deck.
They have not been changed.
India: Sharma (C), Gill, Kohli, Iyer, Patel, Rahul (WK), Pandya, Jadeja, Shami, Yadav, Chakravarthy.
Australian Team
Two changes in Australia.
The injured Matthew Short is replaced by Cooper Connolly at the top of the order. Tanveer Sangha replaces Spencer Johnson.
Australia: Connolly, Head, Smith (c), Loveschine, Inglis (wk), Carrie, Maxwell, Dwarsh, Ellis, Zampa, Sanga.
Australia wins toss and bats
Steve Smith didn't hesitate. As soon as the head call went down his path, he declared his intention to “put some runs on the board and then put some pressure on him later.”
Like most fights with India, Australia's hopes depend on how they spin.
Steve Smith emphasized “middle over.” This is a big chunk between the fireworks with the launch of a new ball and death over. Normally this was a period of stocking, but India changed the game by attacking this period with both bat and ball.
preamble
Daniel Gallant
We went to the Final Four and based on evidence from the past few weeks, these are undoubtedly the best teams in the Champions Trophy of the year.
We're kicking the semi-finals with big ones. India, the holder of the T20 World Cup, will face Australia, the owner of the 50 Over World Cup. This tournament is not ranked along with the other two tournaments, but both sides are keen to go back home and add silverware.
Both are undefeated. India is used to the familiarity of the same hotel and the playing conditions used throughout the competition. This has blocked Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand widely and naturally. Australia is chip-to-tap to knockout after two rainy matches. They spanked England, which makes little clear about their shape.
Does this mean that India is better prepared for these two? Perhaps, however, Australians have the knack for humbling the Indians more than any other side. And this is an ICC event and you'd bet on a canary yellow man.
Certainly there is politics. Certainly there are existential questions about form. Make sure there is a gerrymander smell. But let's forget about it all for a few hours. This has all the ingredients for the cricket crack game, which is too close to stacked with the talent of the superstars.
I hope you're just as excited as I am.
If you have any ideas you want to share, please email me.
I'll be back for about 20 minutes and come back with some updates with toss and team news.
First ball in Dubai at 1pm, Sydney at 8pm and London at 9am (Does that cover a sufficient foundation?)
