What

The 16th match of the 2012 ICC World Twenty20, which is between Australia and India. This is India’s first Group 2 game in the Super Eights stage of the competition.

When

September 28, 2012. The game begins at 7:30 pm, IST.

Where

The R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. From England crumbling to spin against India to Australia batting at over 10-an-over against the West Indies, the R.Premadasa Stadium has seen it all in this tournament. Interestingly, both Australia and India are undefeated at this venue, which means Friday’s contest is likely to see one team have their unblemished record at the Premadasa tarnished.

The Teams

This is the first match of the Super Eights for both teams; Australia and India will each then clash against Pakistan and South Africa in the latter part of the Super Eights. Australia have been dominant in both their wins against Ireland and the West Indies, but the fact that their pacers went for too many runs against the Windies will worry them. Also, with the Premadasa showing its propensity to favour spin, there might be a temptation to play left-arm orthodox spinner Xavier Doherty in place of all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, alongside chinaman bowler Brad Hogg.

India too would be feeling confident after the comprehensive win against England. The challenge, however, for MS Dhoni is to accommodate Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan in the side that beat England by 90 runs. R Ashwin is a certainty, with Piyush Chawla most likely to lose his spot to the off-spinner. If Dhoni opts for five bowlers, which could mean Zaheer’s return to the side, it will be interesting to see if Sehwag actually gets a spot in the playing XI.

Key Players

Shane Watson appears in ominous form for Australia. He has already catapulted to No.3 in the latest ICC T20I player rankings for batsmen and is also ranked No.1 among all-rounders. Two successive Player-of-the-Match awards, against Ireland and West Indies, reflect his value to the Australian side.

Having made his return to international cricket with a sizzling performance, HarbhajanSingh will be eager to maintain his good showing. He has traditionally done well against the Australians in all formats, and his T20I economy-rate of 4.50, Harbhajan’s lowest against any opponent, is a reminder of how he raises his game against better teams.

Trivia:

• India were the only team to dismiss opponents in both the games in group stage.

• Indian batsmen consumed only 32.50 percent dots in their two matches – second best effort by a team in group stage after South Africa (31.93)

• Australia’s batting average of 56.25 per wicket was easily the highest for any side in group stage.

Venue Stats:

Australia – played – 2, won - 2, lost – 0, tied – 0, no result – 0

India – played - 3, won - 3, lost – 0, tied – 0, no result – 0

Highest total in an innings: England 196/5 in 20.0 overs v Afghanistan – September 21, 2012

Lowest total in an innings: Afghanistan 80/10 in 17.2 overs v England - September 21, 2012 and England 80/10 in 14.4 overs v India - September 23, 2012

Best individual score in an innings: Luke Wright (England) – 99* v Afghanistan – September 21, 2012

Best bowling figures in an innings: Harbhajan Singh (India) – 4.0-2-12-4 v England – September 23, 2012

Average first innings score at R.Premadasa Stadium in T20Is: 162

Result summary at R.Premadasa Stadium in T20Is:

Head-to-head:

Last T20I encounter between both sides: February 03, 2012 at Melbourne

Brief scores: India (135/2) beat Australia (131) by 8 wickets

ICC World Twenty20 record:

* won by India in a bowl-out

Form guide (most recent listed first):

Australia: Won, Won, Won, Tied, Lost

India: Won, Won, Lost, Won, Lost

The Squads:

Australia: George Bailey (c), Shane Watson, Daniel Christian, Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hogg, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Clint McKay, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade (wk), David Warner, Cameron White

India: MS Dhoni (c & wk), Gautam Gambhir, R Ashwin, L Balaji, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Irfan Pathan, SK Raina, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Yuvraj Singh

All stats are as onSeptember 27, 2012 before the start of the Pakistan v South Africa encounter in Colombo