Indian cricket fans arrive for the match in Chennai
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India are under pressure from the weight of fans, media and all corners of the host nation when they get their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign up and running against Australia today..
As the host nation and the No 1 ranked side in the world, the expectation has rarely been higher for a nation to deliver, especially in front of a home crowd. After England were hammered by New Zealand in the tournament opener in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, both India and Australia will be looking to get their campaign off to a winning start.
India have not won a World Cup since 2011, and even Sachin Tendulkar spoke during the tournament opener on Wednesday about how sometimes the team have to remember that hundreds of millions are behind them rather than sitting on their shoulders. Australia lost the pre-tournament series in India against Rohit Sharma’s side, but as the England defeat to New Zealand has shown, the bilateral series results can have little effect on the outcome of a World Cup clash. India will also be hoping their side is up to full fitness.
Follow all the latest live coverage of today’s match in the live blog below and get the latest match odds and tips here:
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A look back at South Africa’s stunning win over Sri Lanka yesterday
Aiden Markram smashed a 49-ball hundred, the fastest ever the men’s 50-overs World Cup, as South Africa’s rampaging top order helped them thrash Sri Lanka by 102 runs in their tournament opener on Saturday.
There was brutal batting at the Arun Jaitley Stadium where three of South Africa’s top four batters smashed rapid hundreds to help them rack up a tournament record total of 428-5.
Quinton de Kock struck 100 and Rassie van der Dussen hammered 108 but both were overshadowed by Markram’s incendiary 106 off 54 balls.
Markram, adjudged player of the match, eclipsed Ireland batter Kevin O’Brien’s 50-ball century against England in the 2011 World Cup.
Former champions Sri Lanka were all out for 326 in 44.5 overs after brief fightbacks from Kusal Mendis (76), Charith Asalanka (79) and Dasun Shanaka (68).
South Africa’s mammoth score replaced Australia’s 417-6 against Afghanistan in 2015 as the highest in the men’s World Cup.
“Happy for us. I can’t find fault with the batting,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said. “We were not quite clinical with the ball, but we will take that confidence into the next game.”
South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen in action
India captain Rohit Sharma after losing the toss
Sharma can’t hide his disappointment at losing that key toss.
“Conditions for the bowlers will be on the slower side, the ball will turn as the match goes on. We have played a lot of cricket recently so we are ready. We have covered all our bases and we’re looking forward to this game.”
Australia win the toss and choose to bat
Pat Cummins wins the toss – after the coin goes bouncing away across the wicket – and opts to bat.
“It’s a good wicket, the sun’s out, so we’re going to have a bat,” he says. Full team news coming up…
Pakistan kicked off Cricket World Cup campaign with victory over enterprising Netherlands
Pakistan then got off to a low-key start as Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel hit identical half-centuries in an otherwise underwhelming batting effort in their World Cup opener against the Netherlands on Friday, before the bowlers sealed a routine 81-run win for the 1992 champions.
Faced with an achievable target of 287, the Dutch looked on course for a stunning win in Hyderabad at one stage as Vikramjit Singh (52) and Bas de Leede (67) got going, but Pakistan kept chipping away to dismiss the underdogs for 205 in 41 overs.
De Leede ripped through the Pakistan line-up taking 4-62 and Colin Ackerman claimed 2-39 after the Netherlands won the toss and decided to bowl, but Rizwan (68) and Shakeel (68) ensured the Asian side made 286 in 49 overs.
Haris Rauf took 3-43 and was the pick of the Pakistan attack that was missing the injured Naseem Shah and he finished the job by bowling out Paul van Meekeren.
Haris Rauf starred with the ball as Pakistan defeated the Netherlands
Jos Buttler: New Zealand completely outplayed England in World Cup opener
A recap on the World Cup so far, starting with England’s chastening defeat by New Zealand in the opening match.
Jos Buttler admitted his England side were “completely outplayed” after their World Cup title defence began with a crushing nine-wicket losss.
“I’m disappointed. We were completely outplayed,” he said.
“I thought we were a long way short of our best with the bat, we were probably looking at 320, 330. We had a lot of starts but I thought we were just a bit off in our execution. We weren’t quite clinical enough with our shot making and gifted New Zealand a few wickets.
“But we’re not robots. Sometimes you don’t play as well as you would like. Everyone’s working hard, everyone’s prepared well and we were just a bit off it. In international cricket when you’re a little bit short and the opposition play very well, you’re going to lose the game of cricket.”
Jos Buttler’s England suffered a nine-wicket defeat at the hands of New Zealand
Cummins expects Australian spinners to shine despite Zampa scare
Adam Zampa has added another chapter to Australia’s bookful of freak accidents but skipper Pat Cummins has no concerns about getting 20 overs out of his spinners heading into Sunday’s World Cup opener against India.
Zampa, who will be leading Australia’s spin attack in the tournament with Glenn Maxwell as his sidekick, wore a cut on his face during training after a mishap in the swimming pool.
“He swam into the pool wall apparently,” Cummins told reporters on Saturday.
“He said he had his eyes closed and thought he was swimming in a straight line and swam into the step in the pool… He’s all good he’s just a little bit sore.”
Adam Zampa, centre (Aijaz Rahi/AP/PA)
India vs Australia
India vs Australia will be the biggest match of the 2023 Cricket World Cup so far, and many could argue it should have been the opener.
While debate during England’s defeat to New Zealand raged around the gaps in the stands, with only about 20-30,000 estimated, leaving the 132,000-seater Narendra Modi Stadium largely unoccupied, that will not be the case on Sunday, with a sell-out expected as the tournament lifts to the next level.
Both sides have small fitness concerns, with Shubman Gill having missed training in the week, reportedly from a fever that could be dengue.
For Australia, there could be an anxious wait over the fitness of Marcus Stoinis, who picked up a hamstring issue in the pre-tournament series against India, while Travis Head is set to miss the early stages of the World Cup.
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