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India reached into the super 8’s stage after winning both of their league games quite comfortable against South Africa and Afghanistan. By seeing the form of Australia in this tournament it’s very hard to pick the winner between these two when they will face each other in a crunch game in their first super 8’s game of ICC world twenty20 2010.

India after playing two back-to-back games at slow turning wicket at St. Lucia have since been well rested with a six-day break. They will now face the mighty looking Australians on the bouncy wickets at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados and it will be interesting to see how quickly they will adjust themselves on this wicket.

Gautam Gambhir who sat out in the last game is fit and raring to go for all vital game against the Australians. M.Vijay except his last inning where he scored golden duck is also in prime form and would love to play one of his IPL performances in this tournament to win the game for his team.

Indian middle order also looks solid with the likes of Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, M.S.Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan. In bowling department with the absence of Praveen Kumar, it’s likely that Vinay Kumar will make his debut along with Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra.

On the other hand Australia have fire power at the top in Watson and Warner. Both are in great form and look to play match winning inning for his team. Australian middle order looked little vulnerable in the game against Bangladesh which is little worry of concern for the Australian captain M.Clark.

By considering shorter boundaries, M.Clark is unlikely to give N.Haurtiz a go against the strong Indian line up. That means S.Mith will retain his place.

All in all we will be in for great battle between two strongest team of the competition which are looking good till this point.

Watch out for

S.Raina: He is the player to watch when he will walk down at number three for India. But facing the pace battery of Johnson, Tait and Nannes will not be an easy task. But the current form of Suresh Raina and a century under his belt will make the contest interesting between him and Australian pace battery.

David Hussey: His quick-fire half-century against Pakistan proved crucial in the end. He smashed four sixes in an over of Md. Sammi and he will be one of the dangerous batsmen for India. He is superb player of spin and fast bowling in Australian line-up. So it will be interesting to see the battle between Harbhajan Singh and him.

Pitch & Condition

The Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados pitch has plenty of bounce and assist for spinners, bowlers like Harbhajan Singh will enjoy bowling on such wickets which is good news from India points of view. As we have seen in last few games played here any score above 160 runs mark can be defended with some tight bowling and accurate fielding.

Because of an early start team winning the toss is most likely to bowl first and restrict the opposition below 150 run mark.

Teams

With Gautam Gambhir declared himself fit before all important game against Australia, he will take place of D.Karthik while R.Vinay Kumar is all set to make his debut in place of injured Praveen Kumar who was sent home after he had sustained the injury during a practice session. MRI scan revealed a tear in abdomen muscle. Umesh Kumar his replacement will reach West Indies by Saturday.

On the other hand Australia is likely to go with same winning combination.

Likely Playing XI for both Teams (Match is Schedule to begin at 19:00 PM India Time)

India Squad: G.Gambhir, M.Vijay, S.Raina, Yuvraj Singh, M.S.Dhoni (Captain & WK), Yusuf Pathan, R.Jadeja, H.Singh, R.Vinay Kumar, Z.Khan, A.Nehra.

Australia Squad: S.Watson, D.Warner, M.Clark (Captain & WK), D.Hussey, C. White, M.Hussey, B.Haddin (WK), S.Smith, M.Johnson, S.Tait, D.Nannes.