Australia and India met for the first time in a One-Day International at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in December 1980, when the visiting team prevailed by 66 runs. Since then, both teams have produced some high quality cricket that has led to many fascinating duels.
Australia has had the upper hand against India, having won 67 of the 117 matches between them. It also has a better track record in ICC Cricket World Cup encounters, having won seven of the ten games the two teams have played between 1983 and 2011. India, though, won the last time the two teams met – in the 2011 quarter-final.
Kapil Dev, Steve Waugh, Dean Jones, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchirst, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell have been some of the key players to have added an edge to the contests, but the collective team effort of the Australians has meant that it has had the advantage in the 35 years of rivalry.
Match 1: Australia v India at Trent Bridge in Nottingham in World Cup 1983
On his World Cup debut, Trevor Chappell’s 110 – his highest score in international cricket – outdid Kapil Dev’s best returns in an ODI. Kapil became the first Indian to take five wickets in an ODI, but that did not come in the way of Australia’s 162-run win.
Having won the toss, Australia lost Kepler Wessels early, but the second-wicket partnership of 144 runs between Chappell and Kim Hughes set the tone for Australia’s final total of 320 for 9 in 60 overs.
After Madan Lal bowled Hughes for 52 and Mohinder Amarnath sent Chappell back, Graham Yallop remained unbeaten on 66 and ensured that the solid platform was made good use of.
Chasing 321, India was bowled out for 158 in 37.5 overs, as Ken MacLeay, the right-arm seamer, finished with career-best figures of 6 for 39, while Tom Hogan dismissed Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Kapil – India’s top two scorers in the innings.
Match 2: Australia v India at County Ground, Chelmsford in World Cup 1983
In the virtual quarter-final, India chose to bat first and produced a comprehensive all-round performance to win by 118 runs.
Yashpal Sharma made 40, Sandeep Patil chipped in with 30 and Kapil Dev contributed 28, as India made 247 before being bowled out in 55.5 overs. That India could not play 25 deliveries in its innings was largely because of Rodney Hogg and Jeff Thompson, who picked up three wickets each.
On the field, the seam bowling pair of Madan Lal and Roger Binny led India. The two reaped four wickets each as Australia was bowled out for 129 in 38.2 overs. Australia was reduced from 46 for 1 to 78 for 7 at one stage before Allan Border, who top-scored with 36, added 51 runs for the last two wickets.
Match 3: India v Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk in Chennai in World Cup 1987
In the first of the many thrilling World Cup encounters between the two teams, Australia held its nerve to beat India by one run.
India needed six runs in the final over with one wicket in hand, but Steve Waugh bowled Maninder Singh with the penultimate ball of the match. That the target was 271 and not 269 was because one of Dean Jones’s two sixes, which was initially signalled a boundary, was later changed to a six in the innings break after Kapil Dev, India’s captain, concurred with Australia’s claim.
Australia’s base was built by Geoff Marsh’s 110, and his partnerships of 110 and 64 with David Boon and Jones for the first and second wicket respectively.
India’s chase got off to a solid start as Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Navjot Singh Sidhu made 70 and 73 respectively. But, once Sidhu was the third wicket to fall on 207, Craig McDermott picked up four scalps as India was bowled out for 269 in 49.5 overs.
Match 4: India v Australia at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi in World Cup 1987
India’s convincing 56-run win helped it to top the group and book a semi-final encounter at home.
Put into bat, India recorded four half-centuries to post 289 for 6, and then bowled Australia out for 233 in 49 overs.
India got off to a solid start as Sunil Gavaskar (61) and Krishnamachari Srikkanth put on 50 runs within the first ten overs. And, after Srikkanth became the first of three Craig McDermott wickets, Gavaskar added 75 runs for the second wicket with Navjot Singh Sidhu (51). The duo was complemented well by Dilip Vengsarkar (63) and Mohammad Azharuddin, who made an unbeaten 45-ball 54 – his third consecutive fifty in the tournament.
Though David Boon made 62 and Steve Waugh added 42, none of the other Australian batsmen could get going against Maninder Singh, who took three wickets, and Azharuddin, who finished with career-best figures of 3 for 19.
Match 5: Australia v India at the Brisbane Cricket Ground in World Cup 1992
In a rain-affected game, Australia did well to dismiss India for 234 and win by one run.
India needed 13 runs in the final over bowled by Tom Moody with three wickets in hand. The equation came down to four runs off the last delivery with just a wicket in hand. Javagal Srinath swung, but Steve Waugh fielded the ball inside the boundary and threw it to David Boon, the stand-in wicketkeeper, who beat Venkatapathy Raju while the batsmen were going for the third run to tie the contest.
The game started with Australia riding on Dean Jones’s 90 to post 237 for 9, and India had reached 45 for 2 in 16.2 overs when bad weather halted proceedings for 15 minutes. After the break, India’s target was revised to 236 in 47 overs.
That India got so close to the target was largely because of Mohammad Azharuddin’s captain’s knock of 93 and a brisk 47 from Sanjay Manjrekar.
Match 6: India v Australia at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in World Cup 1996
Mark Waugh’s classy 126 and Damien Fleming’s career-best figures of 5 for 36 overshadowed Sachin Tendulkar’s attacking 90, as Australia beat India by 16 runs.
Having decided to bat first, Waugh and Mark Taylor put on an opening stand of 103 runs before Venkatapathy Raju sent Taylor back for 59. India pulled back things through Venkatesh Prasad and Raju, and some good fielding to bowl Australia out for 258 off the last ball of the 50th over.
India was reduced to 7 for 2 in its chase, but Tendulkar was in a belligerent mood. That by the time Mohammad Azharuddin was out at the team score of 70 and his contribution was only ten spoke for the kind of form Tendulkar was in. But, Waugh got Tendulkar stumped off a wide ball, and India found the going tough after that. Fleming returned to pick up the last wicket of Anil Kumble as India was bowled out for 242 in 48 overs.
Match 7: Australia v India at the Kennington Oval in London in ICC Cricket World Cup 1999
India, deciding to field first, used as many as seven bowlers but could not stop Australia from notching up 282 for 6. In the second half of the game, Glenn McGrath’s incisive bowling gave Australia, the eventual champions, a massive 77-run win.
Australia’s batting was front-ended by Mark Waugh’s 83, and his stands of 97 and 60 runs with Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting for the first and second wicket respectively. After Waugh and Ponting fell in a space of one run, Steve Waugh and Darren Lehmann put on 60 runs to keep the momentum with Australia.
McGrath drove India further away from the game with three early wickets as India was reduced to 17 for 4 in the first 6.2 overs of the chase. Though Ajay Jadeja remained unbeaten on 100 and Robin Singh made 75, India could never make a comeback from the initial collapse, and was dismissed for 205 in 48.2 overs.
Match 8: Australia v India at the SuperSport Park in Centurion in ICC Cricket World Cup 2003
In India’s second game of the tournament, it was found wanting against the pace pair of Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie. Having chosen to bat first, India was bowled out for 125 in 41.4 overs before Australia chased down the target for the loss of one wicket in 22.2 overs.
Lee was the first to strike when he had Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag caught behind in subsequent overs. None of the top six batsmen except for Sachin Tendulkar, who made 36, reached double-digit scores. Lee finished with figures of 3 for 36, while Gillespie, who trapped Tendulkar in front of the wicket, was sensational with returns of 3 for 13 in 10 overs.
In the chase, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden put on 100 runs for the opening wicket before Anil Kumble had Gilchrist stumped for 48. Hayden was unbeaten on 45, while Ricky Ponting was on 24 when the victory was achieved.
Match 9: Australia v India at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg in ICC Cricket World Cup 2003
Ricky Ponting’s superlative 140 and his unconquered 234-run stand for the third wicket with Damien Martyn set up Australia’s 125-run win and its second World Cup title in as many editions.
Put in to bat, Australia started off with a 105-run opening-wicket stand between Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, before Harbhajan Singh removed the duo in the space of 20 runs. But that was to be India’s last success as Ponting, over the course of 121 balls, recorded one of the best innings in World Cup finals. And, he was supported well by Martyn, who made 88 not out in 84 balls.
Though India used eight bowlers, it could not stop Australia from posting 359 for 2 – the highest score in World Cup finals.
Glenn McGrath then removed Sachin Tendulkar in the first over of India’s chase, and things unravelled after that pretty fast.
Virender Sehwag’s 82 and rain delayed the inevitable before India was bowled out for 234 in 39.2 overs.
Match 10: India v Australia at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera in Ahmedabad in ICC Cricket World Cup 2011
Yuvraj Singh’s all-round performance helped India beat Australia in a World Cup encounter for the first time since 1987 and qualify for the semi-final.
Having chosen to bat first, Australia started off well through Brad Haddin’s 53. After Yuvraj sent Haddin back in the 23rd over, Ricky Ponting took over. Though India kept picking up wickets at regular intervals, Ponting’s 55-run stand for the sixth wicket with David Hussey ensured that Australia reached 260 for 6.
India lost Virender Sehwag in the ninth over of its chase, but Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir added 50 runs at a brisk pace to keep the innings on track. Tendulkar made 53, and Gambhir (50) was the fourth wicket to fall when the score was 168 in the 34th over.
Not long after Mahendra Singh Dhoni was caught at point off Brett Lee, India was left needing 74 runs in the last 12 overs.
In what looked like a tense chase, Yuvraj, in the company of Suresh Raina, ensured that the job was done with five wickets in hand and 15 balls to spare.
What to Expect in #cwc2015
Though Australia had the better of India during the recent triangular series, both the teams have been in terrific form in the 2015 ICC World Cup. While India have bowled out opponents in all its seven matches to remain unbeaten in the competition so far, Australia beat England by 111 runs in the tournament opener to set the ball rolling. Australia lost to New Zealand by one wicket, but that apart its bowlers led by Mitchell Starc, the highest wicket-taker in the World Cup, have ensured that the team has had a smooth run into the semi-finals.
The two teams meet each other in the second semi-final at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday (March 26), and though it could be easily billed as a contest between Australia’s bowling and India’s batting, the contest could well come down to who handles the big occasion better in a knockout game.
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