India vs Australia 3rd ODI 2009: Preview and Live Score

If you want to get live score of India vs Australia 3^rd ODI match then visit the link- India vs Australia 3rd ODI 2009 Live Online Action Updates.

For the cricket fans of these two countries, it has perhaps become a prestige issue. Australia won the first ODI and then India captured the second one yesterday very easily. So, now, all the fans are waiting for the result of the third match that is going to take place on this Saturday (31 October 2009). It is a holiday in both the countries. So, you can expect full house crowd in the stadium and millions of TV viewers will enjoy it. Good thing is that it is a day/night match. Now, more than the players the supporters are anxious about the outcome of this match. Whoever wins will take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Indian players were in superb form in the second ODI and they are hoping that they can continue it on this Saturday. Well, the main problem is that their top order batsmen are not in consistent form. They need to be in good touch in front of their home crowd if India has to win the series. Indian wicket is traditionally considered to be good for batting and Indian batsmen are among the best in the world. So, I cannot understand their problem.

For Australia, the main concern is injury. Several of their key players are missing. Even before the series started they were without Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Nathan Bracken and Callum Ferguson. Brett Lee and James Hopes also suffered injury after coming in India and it is not clear whether they will be able to take part in the third match or not. Tim Paine also suffered injury in the last match and Graham Manou will come in place of him. So, in the third match, perhaps we will see some players in Australian eleven whom we do not know that much.

SMG wrote:

The captain said his team's lack of prowess in bowling at the death had been exacerbated in the past week by the hamstring injury to all-rounder James Hopes, forcing other bowlers to close out the innings in the opening two matches of the series.

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With Lee no certainty to regain fitness in time for tomorrow's day-night clash at Delhi, Ponting's only options for strengthening his pace attack at the death are Doug Bollinger, who has taken wickets in only one of his three one-day internationals, and Hopes's temporary replacement, Moises Henriques, who was mauled at the death by West Indian Kieron Pollard in the recent Twenty20 Champions League tournament.

India vs Australia 3^rd ODI will take place at Feroz Shah Kotla in Indian capital city Delhi. 40,000 people can watch a match here and I have already predicted earlier that it will be a full house. Anil Kumble took his historic 10 wickets in a test innings in 1999. So, you may want to deduce that it is helpful for spin bowling. May be it is but the problem is that India does not any good spin bowler at this moment. Harbhajan Singh is no longer at his best form. So, it will be some kind of worry for the team.

Australian players are praying deeply that they can get back Brett Lee in the match. He is perhaps the fastest bowler today and he can cause massive damage to any team any day. Indian batsmen are weak when it comes to facing fast bowlers. So, if Brett Lee becomes fit tomorrow in the practice session then it will boost the confidence of Australian team a lot. The form of their leading batsmen is also not consistent. So, in this department, both the two teams have almost similar problem. Well, for Australia, the retirement of Glenn McGrath has remained such a big loss that the team still could not come out of it.

The Age wrote:

Shane Watson had been emerging as a death bowler of worth but all that good work has been undone in two matches here, while Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus were not precise enough to stop Dhoni.

"It has been (an issue) for a long time, ever since Pigeon (McGrath) moved on, bowling at the death," Ponting said.

"We have mixed and matched trying new guys over the past few years to try and find the guys that can do that well for us.

Dhoni played a great innings in the second ODI and the fans would want something from him again. Some players are calling for him to go to number 3 position and bat. However, he seems to be satisfied with number 5 position.

Indian players and BCCI recently suffered a lot of criticism that IPL is distracting the national team players. This series is a great opportunity to prove the critics wrong.

Although the day is a Saturday, many people will look for live score in Internet and I am giving names of some of the websites:

Cricinfo

Thatscricket

action8cricket

Stickiewicket

We gave live updates of the second ODI yesterday and it was enjoyed by hundreds of visitors. Hopefully, we can do the same for the third ODI on Saturday.