The final of the ICC Cricket World Cup takes place in Ahmedabad on Sunday where India start as favourites for the clash with Australia
India
India were involved in the first of the semi finals against New Zealand in Mumbai on Wednesday and they came out on top by 80 runs. Batting first they posted 397/4 with tons for Kohli (117) and Iyer (105) and Gill made 80. New Zealand lost 2 wickets in the first 8 overs before staging a recovery but Mohammad Shami was the Indian bowling hero, returning figures of 7/57.
India were foot perfect in the round robin stage, winning all 9 of their matches. They were the only side to go unbeaten and they finished 4 points clear of South Africa and Australia in the standings with New Zealand 8 points back in fourth.
India played just the one match in Ahmedabad, a 7 wicket win over Pakistan where they chased down 192 for victory with some ease.
India were last crowned champions in 2011 on home turf, they finished as runners up in 2003 and their first title came back in 1983.
Squads and Team News
This was how India lined up last time out.
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
Did not play: Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Shardul Thakur
Australia
Australia were paired with South Africa in Thursday's semi final in Kolkata and they held their nerve to win a gripping match by 3 wickets. Hazlewood and Starc took the first 4 Proteas wickets with just 24 runs on the board and after a Miller century the South African innings closed on 212 all out. Travis Head (62) and Warner (29) got Australia off to a flyer in the chase but 60 without loss became 193/7 before Inglis (28), Starc (18 not out) and Cummins (16 not out) got Australia home in 47.2 overs.
After losing their first 2 matches to India and South Africa the Australian's reeled off 7 successive wins to claim a semi final spot. They played 1 match at Ahmedabad, a 33 run victory over England where they defended a bat first total of 286 ( Labuschagne 71, Zampa 3/21).
Australia have won the CWC title 5 times, the most recent of which was on home soil in 2015 and they have lost just 1 of 6 finals they contested.
Squads and Team News
This was how Australia lined up last time out
Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Did not play: Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 150 times with India winning 57 to Australia's 83 with 10 no results.
India beat Australia by 6 wickets early in the round robin stage of this tournament. India restricted Australia to just 199 and despite losing 3 of their top 4 batsmen for ducks Kohli (85) and KL Rahul (97 not out) took them home in 41.2 overs.
The Betting
India are currently trading at around 4/10 to win the game and Australia can be backed at around 1.75/1
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
I'm thinking Australia could give India a few problems but it's hard to oppose the favourites and my betting interest comes in the hosts top bat and ball markets
Shreyas Iyer is bang in form and attractively priced to be top India run scorer.
Shami was on fire with the ball in the semi finals but for the top Indian wicket taker I prefer Kuldeep Yadav for the final
Bets: Top Indian Run Scorer Shreyas Iyer at 11/2 with Sportingbet
Top Indian Wicket Taker Kuldeep Yadav at 4/1 with Sportingbet
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
Discussion Forum
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