Rain fails to dampen spirit
PERSISTENT rain is threatening to derail Australia’s bid to level the one-day cricket series against India in Kolkata.
After Steve Smith’s men lost the first ODI in Chennai on the Duckworth-Lewis method, they could again be forced into a shortened contest in Game 2. If the match is abandoned, Australia will need to win in Indore to keep its hopes of a series victory alive.
A small group of Australian players trained indoors yesterday with Eden Gardens com- pletely covered ahead of today’s match.
India abandoned its training session as weather forecasters made ominous predictions for the rest of the week.
But despite trailing 1-0, the gloom has not extended to the Australian camp after effectively being forced into a T20 chase in Chennai.
“It was tough coming down to 20 overs and they started really well with the ball,” legspinner Adam Zampa said.
“The wicket was spinning quite well and the wrist spinners were quite hard to pick at night. Hopefully it’s a bit different under a 50-over situation.”
Makeshift opener Hilton Cartwright is likely to be given another chance at the top of the order with Aaron Finch nursing a calf injury. Australia has a range of all-rounder options with Tasmanian James Faulkner and Marcus Stoinis combining for 20 overs of seam in the first match.
Cartwright was unused as a medium pacer, while Travis Head’s off-spin was not called on.
In Pat Cummins and Nathan Coulter-Nile, Australia has two in-form quicks to take the new balls.
If the pitch looks like turning, orthodox left-armer Ashton Agar — no slouch with the bat — is waiting in the wings.
“We have plenty of variety in our attack with two quicks who bowled very well for us the other day,” Zampa said.
“We’ve got Jimmy [Faulkner] bowling what he does, a leg-spinning option and some off-spin as well.”
Australia will start underdog but was not embarrassed in Chennai. India was 3-11 and 5-87 before M.S. Dhoni and Hardik Pandya rallied to take their side to 7-281.
The rain came in the break and Australia fell short of the revised target of 164 from 21 overs.