India qualified for the semi-finals after they defeated Australia by 24 runs in the important clash of the Super Eights in the T20 World Cup 2024 in Saint Lucia.
Australia won the toss and elected to bowl first against mighty Indians. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma led from the front and scored 92 runs. Suryakumar Yadav made 31 runs, helping his side to post 205 runs on the board.
In reply, India restricted Australia to 181-7 in the allotted 20 overs. Travis Head made 76 runs while Arshdeep Sindh took 3 wickets.
Now Afghanistan need a win over Bangladesh to qualify for the semi-finals. In that case, Australia will be eliminated.
Head-to-head
The T20 record, in the meanwhile, also is in favour of India. They have so far met in 32 T20 international matches. India have won on 20 occasions, while Australia have won 11 matches with one no-result encounter.
India have an edge in the T20 World Cup’s history. Of the six encounters they have so far, India have won four and Australia two.
Form guide
India are riding on high tide in the tournament as they have won all of their matches so far. They have been getting themselves out of tricky situations with help from their lower-order batsmen and ever-reliable pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
Australia were also an undefeated combination till they were surprised by Afghanistan the other day.
The pitch
St Lucia has been the most batting-friendly venue of the World Cup in terms of both scoring rate (8.92) and average (28.76). Fast bowlers have struggled to keep the runs down here, going at an economy rate of 9.42, but spinners have done relatively better, having 7.91 rate than in both Dallas and Antigua.
The contrast
Skipper Mitchell Marsh is struggling in this World Cup with just 88 runs in six innings at an average of 17.60 and a strike rate of 111.39.
On the other hand, Arshdeep Singh has been a pricking spearhead for India. He is highest wicket-taker in this World Cup with 15 strikes at the rate of one every 10 balls, but he’s also been their only regular bowler with an economy rate of 7.
