Match Facts
Who: Australia v India
When: Tuesday June 24. Coin toss at 12 midnight AEST, first ball at 12.30am AEST (Monday June 23, 10.30am local time)
Where: Daren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia
How to watch: Amazon Prime Video
Officials: Richard Kettleborough and Richard Illingworth (standing), Michael Gough (third), Kumar Dharmasena (fourth)
Live scores: Australia v India match centre
World Cup standings
With one match remaining for each of the four sides in Group 1, it’s possible for all to still progress. From Australia’s point of view, while a win doesn’t guarantee them a semi-final berth, it gives them the best possible chance.
Super Eight fixtures
21 June: Beat Bangladesh by 28 runs (DLS method)
23 June: Lost to Afghanistan by 21 runs
25 June: v India, Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, St Lucia, 12.30am AEST
The squads
Australia: Mitch Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Reserves: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short
Players used: 13
Thirty-four hours after their last match ended, Australia will be beginning a new one in a new country. Will the toll of the tight schedule impact who plays against India? Cameron Green and Josh Inglis remain as the unused players from the 15-player squad, while Nathan Ellis has been used twice.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj. Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan
Players used: 12
Smooth sailing so far for India with a very settled squad and playing XI guiding them to their unbeaten position so far. In case of injury, which hasn’t hit yet, India have brought four travelling reserves, the most of any nation.
How to watch
It’s a new era for watching World Cup cricket in Australia.
All 55 matches of the tournament will be shown live on Amazon’s Prime Video online subscription streaming service after the internet giant recently acquired the Aussie broadcast rights for all ICC events for the next four years. There is no free-to-air Australian broadcast of this World Cup as a result.
You can sign up to Prime Video by clicking here.
How to recap
Everything you could need will be right here on cricket.com.au.
We’ll have a live blog in play during the match, so even if you miss some live play you can catch up on the big moments as they happened.
Interviews, highlights and the Unplayable Podcast will all review what took place and keep you informed on the key takeaways.
Local knowledge
St Lucia has been the best place to bat in the Caribbean this tournament, with the average first innings total here almost 190.
The fast bowlers have gone the journey on the true wicket, conceding a whopping 9.42 runs per over.
Australia played here in the group stage, chasing down Scotland’s 180 with two balls to spare on a surface that Marcus Stoinis described as a “beautiful wicket”. Australia also played out a five-match T20I series against the West Indies exclusively at this venue, during the Covid tour of 2021.
India on the other hand, haven’t played a T20I here since the 2010 T20 World Cup.
Possible starting XIs
Australia: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh (c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
With a return to the truer surface of Daren Sammy Stadium, Australia could return to their tried-and-true method of three front line quicks. Ashton Agar (0-17) bowled well in helpful conditions against Afghanistan but he may make way for Mitch Starc or even Nathan Ellis, who has performed well when he’s played this tournament. Despite an off night, Australia will be hesitant to tinker with the batting line up that has brought them so much success to date.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh
There’s a good chance we already know India’s playing XI. They’ve made only one change to their side throughout the entire tournament – pacer Mohammad Siraj played the three matches in the USA but spinner Kuldeep Yadav has replaced him since India have arrived in the Caribbean. Hard to see that changing considering Australia’s supposed susceptibility to spin. Virat Kohli’s been out of runs but has a knack of stepping up against Australia.
Players to watch
India’s wicketkeeper and No.3 batter will be a familiar face to many Aussie fans, hero of the 2021 Gabba Test, Rishabh Pant. It will be the first time Pant has faced Australia since his horror car accident that almost cost him his career and his life. It’s been a good tournament so far for the nuggety, crafty leftie – with 152 runs he’s India’s top scorer and his strike rate of 135.7 is second on the team to only Hardik Pandya (141.3).
So often he’s proven the match-winner for Australia and once again all eyes will be on Adam Zampa. He’s had a ripping tournament so far, recording figures of 2-24, 2-28, 4-12, 1-30, 2-24 and 2-28. Only Afghanistan’s Fazhalaq Farooqi (15) has more wickets than Zampa’s 13 for the tournament, and the 32-year-old has plenty of experience playing India too, with 12 wickets in 15 matches against the familiar foe.
Recent form
Past 10 T20 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, N: no result
Australia: LWWWWWWWL
Australia’s winning streak ended on eight matches following Afghanistan’s historic victory in St Vincent. Their net run-rate is still quite strong thanks to their big win over Bangladesh, which could come into play.
India: WWNWWWWWWW
India had to overcome some tough pitches during their initial USA leg of the Cup, but did just enough to secure wins over Ireland, USA and Pakistan. Their match against Canada was washed out but it didn’t halt their momentum, starting the Super Eight stage with convincing wins over Afghanistan (47 runs) and Bangladesh (50 runs).
Last time they met
These two sides had a five-match series immediately after last year’s ODI World Cup in late November and early December. India won that series 4-1 including the fifth match in Bengaluru, by six runs. Glenn Maxwell and Josh Inglis both hit hundreds in during that tour.
Head-to-head
Played: 31
Australia wins: 11
India wins: 19
No result: 1
Rapid stats
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Travis Head has been the most effective batter in the Powerplay in this tournament, his 134 runs (at a strike rate of 154) is the most in the World Cup.
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Jasprit Bumrah has been on another level in this tournament, proving even harder to score off than usual. His 77 dots balls is the most (equal with South Africa’s Marco Jansen) in the World Cup.
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Marcus Stoinis has dominated the pace bowlers at this World Cup: his strike rate of 233.33 against the quicks is the highest in the tournament (minimum 10 balls faced).
- Glenn Maxwell hit a match-winning 104no in his last T20 innings against India. He then scored another century against West Indies in Adelaide in February, drawing him level with Rohit Sharma for the most centuries (5) in men’s T20 internationals.
Where to next?
Barring a complete catastrophe, India are through to the semi-finals whether they win or lose. Should India make the final four, their semi-final will be played in Guyana. Australia will have a nervous wait even if they defeat India, as their progress will be dependent on the result of the Afghanistan-Bangladesh game.
Australia’s Group B fixtures
June 6: Beat Oman by 39 runs
June 9: Beat England by 36 runs
June 12: Beat Namibia by nine wickets
June 16: Beat Scotland by five wickets
Super Eight fixtures
21 June: Beat Bangladesh by 28 runs (DLS method)
23 June: Lost to Afghanistan by 21 runs
25 June: v India, Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, St Lucia, 12.30am AEST
Semi-finals to follow if Australia qualify
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