India A are all set to take on Australia A in the final of the triangular series at M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday. They will have to face a tough challenge against Australia A who have remained unbeaten in the tour so far.
India A defeated South Africa A by 34 runs in the final game of the league on Thursday and thereby confirmed their place in the final.
On the other hand, Australia A have so far played four games in the tri-series and they have managed to win every single game with three bonus points. After they defeated South Africa A in their second last game, they had confirmed their berth in the finals. They have indeed played some brilliant all-round cricket in the tournament so far and clearly, they will be a tough team to beat in the final.
"We are getting into the final with a lot of confidence. We manage to tick a lot of boxes in the first two games. We did well while batting first as well as chasing. Our bowlers too have done fantastic job throughout the series. We feel we have done a lot of right things so far. So far we have been really good. It does not matter what has happened so far, but what is going to happen tomorrow is important," Australia A batsman Callum Ferguson told reporters on Thursday.
The Aussie bowling unit have come in handy with Nathan Coulter-Nile and Ashton Agar have been the pick of the bowlers in that line up. In the batting front, Matthew Wade, Joe Burns and skipper Usman Khawaja have been brilliant as well. Many of the Australia A players have got to pack their bags and fly to England for the tri-series as they have caught the eyes of the Cricket Australia selectors.
Meanwhile, India A will be high on confidence after their batting performance against South Africa A on Thursday. Mayank Agarwal has been outstanding in the series and with an average of over 121, he would be one of the batsmen whom the Aussie bowlers would like to dismiss early. Manish Pandey and skipper Unmukt Chand have also been good with their willows. They will have to keep the momentum going in the final as well.
The bowling front needs a lot of attention though. India A posted a total of 371 on the scoreboard and in return, South Africa A reached 337 runs in their allotted 50 overs. This shows the signs of vulnerability in the bowling attack of India A. They cannot afford to leak so many runs during the final against Australia A and if they do, then there is no stopping the Aussies. All in all, it is going to be an exciting One-Day match at the Chepauk on Friday.
Where to watch live:
The Final of the triangular series between India A and Australia is scheduled for a 9:30am local time (5am BST, 2pm AT, 12am EST) start with the live coverage available on Star Sports 2 and StarSports HD 2. Viewers in India can stream the match live on Starsports.com.
