🏏ICC T20I WC 2024: S8 - Match 51: India vs Australia, St Lucia 🏏 - Page 4

Matt is now in situ at the ground and confirms it is still not raining. Sensational scenes. "It's a fair bit cooler today, very strong crosswind again from northeast," he adds. "Quite a few India shirts around the Rodney Bay Area last night and starting to pop up in the stands too." If you're into your weather (and what cricket fan isn't, frankly), you'll want to read Matt's piece on the St Lucia winds before we get started

And also on matters meteorological, here's Bhaskar: "How's the weather? Taking a page out of Hazlewood's book and hoping for a washout .. because it would help eliminate THE big threat, his own team :)"

19th November, 2023. It’s been more than 7 months since that dreaded night in Ahmedabad, but those wounds don’t seem to heal. Scarred for life, are we? More than a lakh spectators at the Narendra Modi Stadium, more than a million fans watching it on their television sets back home and in several pubs across the nation. Australia gave team India and its cricket fans, probably the biggest heartbreak of this century. Yes, Australia did beat India in the final of 2003 World Cup as well, but that Australian team belonged to a different league altogether. So that loss was bearable. The recent loss wasn’t.

So here we are again. It’s the T20 World Cup. It’s India vs Australia. India have been unbeaten in the tournament so far and today they have a chance to knock Australia out of the tournament. The Aussies were exposed by Afghanistan just a couple of days back, but that was in the absence of their spearhead - Mitchell Starc. There’s a massive difference between a team with and without Mitchell Starc. It’s a must-win situation for Australia so you can expect the fiery pacer to deliver the goods once again. The Indian top order hasn’t been at its best in the tournament either. And we all know India’s vulnerability against left-arm pacers, especially in major ICC events. Sit back and relax, the toss and teams are not far away..

It has been rainining in St Lucia of late but the weather looks clear for now. There are some showers expected later but given the present conditions we should have an on-time start. The players are out warming out. The stands have slowly started to fill in, let's hope the conditions remain the same throughout the game.

So here we are again. It’s the T20 World Cup. It’s India vs Australia. India have been unbeaten in the tournament so far and today they have a chance to knock Australia out of the tournament. The Aussies were exposed by Afghanistan just a couple of days back, but that was in the absence of their spearhead - Mitchell Starc. There’s a massive difference between a team with and without Mitchell Starc. It’s a must-win situation for Australia so you can expect the fiery pacer to deliver the goods once again. The Indian top order hasn’t been at its best in the tournament either. And we all know India’s vulnerability against left-arm pacers, especially in major ICC events. Sit back and relax, the toss and teams are not far away..

"Aus are at their absolute most dangerous when they're buckling under major pressure," declares Walt. "It's been a hallmark of the team for decades, and it's what separates them from all other cricket teams. They're not going to just give up and go out with a whimper. IMO, we can expect a clash for the ages."

And Manu Ajmani knows he wasn't dreaming (but has put it very poetically nevertheless): "It took some time to move past 19 November. It took some time to hide the wounds of when Australia outplayed India at the grandest stage of them all. The emotions were real, the fanaticism was real, the hope is real that someone wakes us up to tell us that it was just a dream. We know it wasn't, and here we are again. India vs Australia in another high stakes clash. Indian fans hoping to get some sort of revenge while Aussies will look to repeat the carnage in 2023 final."

The reason this game has so much riding on it, at least from an Australia perspective, is because of a famous first international defeat at the hands of Afghanistan in St Vincent the other night. Not even Glenn Maxwell could save them on this occasion, though being better in the field might have done - Mitch Marsh was confident afterwards that his side would raise their standards, and you would think they will need to against an India side that is unbeaten at the tournament so far (five wins and a washout)

Here's Mustafa Moudi: "Fun Fact: The Last time Australia defeated India in a T20 World Cup Match was back in 2012. But what's in their favour is the fact that the only match both these sides faced each other in West Indies, was won by Australia too in 2010. Looking forward to this interesting battle !!" Yes, I remember that 2010 game - couple of young bucks were the top-scorers on either side: David Warner and Rohit Sharma. Wonder what happened to them?

Thanks for the tag and thread. Ind lets win it

A third straight win for India will not only make them the group toppers and send them to the semifinals, it will also substantially threaten Australia's chances of progressing through to the semi-finals following the unexpected loss to Afghanistan in Saint Vincent on Saturday night.

Following the reverse against Afghanistan, Australia don't have the destiny in their own hands and will be keenly tracking Rashid Khan's team final game against Bangladesh.

India, who have had to endure heartbreaking defeats at the hands of Australia in major ICC events, would like to see a pre-mature exit of their strong rivals.

As well as the gusty conditions in Gros Islet, the teams will be contending with a used surface for this match - the same as the one used for South Africa's Group 2 game against England last Friday. That surface was notably slower than for other games played in St Lucia; with another early start, will it be important to try and get runs on the board? And how does that play into each team's respective strengths, with Australia mulling whether to bring back Mitchell Starc or persist with three spin options?

Desh: "If Aus win this match with high margin after scoring around 200, and then Afgan win the match against the BAN with high margin. Does this mean IND and BAN will be out? Pls enlighten me." Certainly, Desh. This scenarios article is your friend - but here is the relevant paragraph: For India to get knocked out, both Australia and Afghanistan will have to win by big margins. Australia will need to beat India by 41 runs to go past them on run rate, while Afghanistan will have to beat Bangladesh by at least 83 runs.