Their pace attack has been the most fearsome this IPL season but Sunrisers Hyderabad swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar feels it would be a tough task for his team to counter the marauding Royal Challengers Bangalore batsmen when the two teams clash in the final on Sunday. Hyderabad edged out Gujarat Lions by four wickets on Friday in Qualifier 2 to set up a summit clash with Bangalore, who had beaten the same opponents in Qualifier 1. "We will definitely strategise because I read somewhere the other day that Virat Kohli has scored 35 per cent of RCB's runs. It'll be a big task for us to get (Chris) Gayle, Virat (Kohli) and AB (De Villers) and later, (Shane) Watson, out. We are hoping for a good contest," Bhuvneshwar said at the post match press conference in New Delhi.
The Australians are struggling against India's new spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal and the hosts would like to ensure that it doesn't get any easy as the series progresses.
Their path to the semi-finals looking relatively easier in comparison, Australia will fancy their chances when they lock horns with a struggling Pakistan side whose hopes hangs by a thread in the ICC World Twenty20, in Mohali, on Friday.
England batter Liam Livingstone fetched a staggering Rs 11.50 crore deal from Punjab Kings, who also roped in West Indies fast bowler Odean Smith, for Rs 6 crore, on Sunday, Day 2 of the TATA Indian Premier League 2022 Player Auction, in Bengaluru.
Rohit Sharma struck his second successive hundred of the series but once again the Indians were comfortably outclassed by Australia by seven wickets, in the second One-Day International in Brisbane, on Friday.
Outplayed in the ODIs, a faltering India will look to get the balance right as they eye redemption in a three-match Twenty20 series against Australia starting in Adelaide on Tuesday which also kicks off their build-up for the World T20 Championships in March-April.
Mumbai Indians' consistency on the big day paid off again during a season where there were more than 30 last-over finishes.
But Smith believes the world champions have a quality squad to bounce back in the series.
Steve Smith scored a brilliant century to help Australia knock out defending champions India and set up a mouth-watering final against neighbours New Zealand, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, on Thursday.
India's preparations for the cricket World Cup suffered a jolt as Australia thrashed the defending champions by 106 runs with Glenn Maxwell and David Warner striking blistering centuries in their first warm-up game in Adelaide.
In what will be a dress rehearsal of their opening game in the World Cup, an unbeaten Australia take on England in the cricket tri-series final, in Perth on Sunday.
George Bailey stepped down as Australia's Twenty20 captain on Sunday, saying that he wants to focus on his Test career.
Chennai Super Kings eliminated Kings XI Punjab from the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a five-wicket win, a result which sealed Rajasthan Royals' place in the Play-offs, in Pune, on Sunday night.
The shocking death of batsman Phillip Hughes on Thursday has cast doubts on whether the first Test between Australia and India will go ahead in Brisbane next week.
Riding on leg-spinner Rashid Khan's brilliant effort, Sunrisers Hyderabad produced an inspired bowling display to eke out a fighting 13-run win over in-form Kings XI Punjab in a low-scoring IPL match in Hyderabad, on Thursday.
A patient half-century by Ajinkya Rahane and some disciplined bowling display helped Rajasthan Royal notch up a comfortable four-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL match in Abu Dhabi.
India, along with the mighty Australia, will start as title contenders in the ICC Champions Trophy.
Gujarat Lions will have their task cut out when they lock horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The shocking loss to Kings XI Punjab in their last match, notwithstanding, table-toppers Gujarat Lions will have to get their act together quickly if they wish to end their home campaign on a winning note against a formidable Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League match, in Rajkot on Tuesday.
Pujara was the dominant figure with his second century of the series, a dogged but faultless 106 off 319 balls
Captain Virat Kohli became the second fastest to 25 Test centuries before Usman Khawaja helped Australia extend their lead to 175 runs to give the hosts a slight upperhand at stumps on Day 3 in Perth on Sunday.
Captain Steve Smith smashed his way to a brilliant century to guide Australia to a thrilling three-wicket victory over England with just one delivery to spare in the One-Day International tri-series match in Hobart on Friday.
Chris Gayle started with flair while Darren Sammy finished with a flourish as West Indies got the better of Australia by six wickets in an exciting Group 2 League encounter of the ICC World T20 in Mirpur.
Ricky Ponting, on Sunday, heaped praise on the Indian players, especially Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer
Openers Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum shared a breathtaking 109-run stand off 44 balls as Chennai Super Kings outplayed Mumbai Indians by six wickets to maintain their unbeaten run in the IPL.
Harbhajan Singh slammed an entertaining half-century but could not prevent Mumbai Indians from going down to Kings XI Punjab by 18 runs in the Indian Premier League match at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, on Sunday.
The 2015 World Cup was, skipper Brendon McCollum said, the ride of a lifetime for New Zealand and even if Australia brought it to a shuddering halt in Sunday's final, their brilliant campaign will not quickly fade from the memory.
It will not be the first time that the competition has had to be held outside India.
Shane Watson claimed a hat-trick as Rajasthan Royals restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad to a 134 for 9 in the IPL match in Ahmedabad on Thursday. However, his effort was in vain as Hyderabad came back with a vengeance to dismiss the former champions for 102 and win by 32 runs for only their third victory this season.
The series is even more important for Kohli as it would also define his legacy as a leader having already established himself as world's premier batsman.
Virat Kohli slammed an unbeaten 90 before a collective effort by the Indian bowlers gave the visitors a resounding start in the Twenty20 series against Australia with a 37-run victory in the first match in Adelaide, on Tuesday.
They are determined to recapture the number one spot in the ICC ODI rankings but Australia skipper George Bailey said it would be "silly" to assume that the visitors would be able to thrash India by the requisite 6-1 margin in the seven-match series starting in Pune.
Glenn Maxwell produced yet another blazing innings with the bat before Lakshmipathy Balaji returned a four-wicket haul as Kings XI Punjab registered a crushing 72-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.
Perennial under-achievers Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab will look to recover from opening losses and put their campaign back on track.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni praised Rohit Sharma, who has been in good form in the ODI cricket for the past two years, terming him as someone, who now knows the art of "building on good starts".
Agarwal, thrusted into the squad following failure of KL Rahul and Murali Vijay, responded with a 76-run knock off balls, sorting out India's opening woes to some extent.
David Warner, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina and Zaheer Khan have all led from the front in IPL 9.
David Warner pulverized a listless Chennai Super Kings attack into submission with some breathtaking strokeplay as Sunrisers Hyderabad won by six wickets to keep slim chances of qualifying for the IPL play-offs alive.
'We are pretty comfortable as a side and any combination that we go in with.'
Putting up an all-round show, Kolkata Knight Riders consolidated their fourth position in the points table with a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL match in Hyderabad on Sunday.
