India and Australia lock horns in the second One Day International (ODI) of the three-match series at Rajkot’s Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Friday (January 17, 2020). With a marauding Australia led by Aaron Finch routing India by 10 wickets in the first match on Tuesday (January 14, 2020) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the host under Virat Kohli’s captainship faces an uphill task of remaining alive in the series.
At Rajkot, the weather is unlikely to play a major role in the day-night match with the maximum temperature expected to be around 24 degrees Celcius and the minimum will be around 14 degrees Celcius by the time the match ends late in the night, according to weather.com. The day will be sunny while the night will be clear with no cloud in sight and no prediction of rain which can play havoc with the match.
India do not have good memories of ODIs at Rajkot with the team losing both the matches played at the venue. India had faced England at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium on January 11, 2013, and lost by 9 runs while South Africa defeated the host team by 18 runs in another 50-over match on October 18, 2015.
The Rajkot pitch has seen batsmen make merry with England scoring 325/4 after winning the toss in their match against India, who ended up with 316/9. In the second ODI at the venue, South Africa had won the toss and ended with 270/7 in their allotted quota of 50 overs while India could muster only 252/6.
So, the toss will play a crucial role with the team winning most probably opting to bat first on a pitch that will force the bowlers to try out all the tricks in their armoury to get a wicket.
In the first match at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, India lost the toss as well as the match as the Australian bowlers first shackled the famed batting line-up of the host team by bowling it out for 255. The Australian opening pair of David Warner and captain Aaron Finch then toyed with the Indian bowlers karting them all over the park as the visitors reached the target with 12.2 overs to spare without losing a wicket.
Source: Zee News