A brilliant bounce back in Adelaide by the Australians sees the series level ahead of the third Test in Brisbane. This series is delivering everything it promised, and there’s plenty on the line at the Gabba. Jack Tobin has you covered with his full preview and betting tips below!
Australia vs India: 3rd Test Preview & Betting Tips
Gabba, Saturday 14th December, 11:20am AEDT
Australia
Predicted XI: Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Australia will have a decision to make around Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland, with Hazlewood firming to return from a side strain after training on Monday. It would be a tough call to drop Boland given his performance in Adelaide with figures of 2/54 and 3/51. Boland took the huge wickets of Shubman Gill in the first innings, as well as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli in the second innings.
Australia were back to their best in a dominant ten wicket win at the Adelaide Oval, with the batting unit finally standing up after a horror show in the first Test. Nathan McSweeney (39 off 109) and Marnus Labuschagne (64 off 126) played a massive role in the night session on day one, blunting Jasprit Bumrah to guide Australia to 1/86 at the end of play. Their 67 run partnership laid the platform for Travis Head’s match winning knock of 140 off 141, which took the game from India as the Aussies took a 157 run lead at the end of the innings.
Australia’s quicks were brilliant throughout the entirety of the Test match, with Mitchell Starc obliterating India’s top order with a career best 6/48 in the opening innings. Captain Pat Cummins bounced back from a poor performance in Perth with 5/57 in the second innings after 2/41 in the first.
India
Predicted XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
India were pretty poor in all facets of play in Adelaide, struggling with bat and ball after a massive win in the first Test. Rohit Sharma is under a mountain of pressure after knocks of 3 and 6 after moving back to the middle order. The Indian captain is averaging 27.14 in 2024 which is the lowest of in a calendar year since 2018, with scores of 6, 5, 23, 8, 2, 52, 0, 8, 18, 11, 3 and 6 across his last six Tests.
A clear concept that came out of the second Test was the drop off between Jasprit Bumrah and the rest of the bowling attack. When Bumrah couldn’t make early inroads, Harshit Rana took 0/86 with economy of 5.38, while Mohammed Siraj went at an economy rate of 4, requiring three of the last four wickets of the innings to put some respectability into his figures, however he struggled against Australia’s top order.
Although Bumrah Nobody outside of Nitish Kumar Reddy provided any meaningful contribution, with the young all rounder providing some crucial innings at number seven. Reddy has been a huge find for India in this series with knocks of 41, 38*, 42 and 42 to start his Test career.
Match Prediction
We have seen the best and worst of each team across the opening two Tests, which makes predicting the outcome of proceedings in Brisbane very tough. 75mm during the week in Brisbane have contributed to a green pitch that will present plenty of challenges for both batting units come Saturday. Curator David Sandurski has said there will be the typical pace and bounce that the Gabba always have, meaning the battle of each top four against the new ball looms as the most important battle of this match.
India won’t hold fears that touring teams usually have given their historic win at the Gabba in their last trip to Australia. However their top order is vulnerable when the ball is swinging on a grassy surface, and although plenty has been made of Australia’s top four, India haven’t been any better in this area. Across their last five Test matches, India have lost their first four wickets for less than 90 runs in seven of their ten innings. India have lost four of those five Tests and come into Brisbane under a world of pressure. If Australia can contain Bumrah in the manner that they did in Adelaide, the Aussies will go 2-1 up in the series.
Australia to Win
$1.57 (1 Unit)
Prop Bet
Although he doesn’t get the praise that Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc receive, Josh Hazlewood has been Australia’s best Test bowler in 2024 by a decent margin. Hazlewood has taken 34 wickets at an average of 13.35 in the calendar year, seven more wickets than Lyon, Cummins and Starc have, despite playing one less Test. Hazlewood was by far Australia’s best bowler in the first Test, taking 4/29 and 1/28.
Hazlewood loves playing at the Gabba, taking 37 wickets at an average of 23.76, with Brisbane being his second most prolific venue across his career. He has two five wicket hauls in two games against India at the Gabba, and is set to wreak havoc again this weekend.
Josh Hazlewood - Top Australian Bowler -1st Innings
$3.60
