Australia vs India Prediction: 7/2 Rana to shine in the rain in 2nd IT20

Jamie Pacheco previews the second T20I of the Series between Australia and India, which will be played at the MCG on Friday. The match will start at 08:15 and be broadcast live on TNT Sports.  

Jamie is considering rainy conditions when he's tipping Mitch Marsh for Australia top bat and Harshit Rana for India Top Bowler. You can check out why below and he goes through his Australia vs India Predictions...   

*You can check out the Cricket Odds from all of our Cricket Betting markets over on betfred.com

Match Preview:

Australia  

The Aussies played the XI that you would have expected given their absences, so Matthew Kuhnemann got a game but was expensive, conceding 22 off just two overs.  He may well keep his place though, because Adam Zampa is still spending time with his wife, who's about to give birth.  

It was interesting to see that they decided to play two keepers with Josh Inglis taking the gloves and Josh Philippe in an unfamiliar role as a specialist batsman at seven.  

Josh Hazlewood featured in the first game and bowled three overs by the time the rain came.  He'll probably play here again before getting a rest ahead of the Ashes.  

India 

You could probably say Australia dodged a bullet because at 97/1 after less than 10 overs, India were heading for a big total when the rain came and didn't go away. We'll never know what that total might have been or how Australia would have gone about chasing it, but they would almost certainly have been outsiders at the break.  

Of note was their decision to play three frontline spinners with Axar, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy all involved.  

The rest of the team was as you'd expect, Sky coming in at three rather than four and Shivam Dube, 'the finisher', also in the side.

Pitch and conditions

One of the world's most iconic grounds, the MCG, plays host to the second T20I. 

19 matches have been played here, 18 of them completed.  Australia have won 9 of the 14 they've played in Melbourne, a very decent 64%-win rate.  

Curiously, three of the last five were washed out, and worryingly, they were played at this time of year, so the weather may well play its part again.  

There's plenty of rain forecast during the game, so unfortunately, another rained-off game is a real possibility. We expect a few overs to be lost, at the very least, so talk of first-innings scores is somewhat irrelevant.  

As ever, the chasing side normally has the edge in these circumstances.  

Match Winner Odds

Australia are at evens (50%), and India are at 4/5 (55.6%). We were impressed by India's fast start last time out, but that's not to say Australia couldn't have clawed their way back with the ball or aced a big chase with the bat.  

Conditions, reduced overs, and the toss will all have a huge impact on the game, if it is completed at all. So, given the rain situation, we'll leave this market alone without knowing much about what might unfold. 

*For all the latest and live Australia vs India 2nd IT20 Odds then head over to betfred.com 

Australia Top Batsman  

It's not a bad thing to know the rules as regards top batter/top wicket-taker markets. So, here's a reminder:  

"In limited overs cricket matches affected by weather, a minimum number of overs (as specified below) must be bowled, unless the team is all out or has won the match or the Top Batter/Wicket Taker bet has been unconditionally determined, otherwise all Top Batsman/Wicket Taker bets will be deemed void." 

50-over ODI/Domestic matches – 20 overs 

20-over International/Domestic matches – 6 overs 

100-ball matches – 30 balls 

So, 6 overs or more and the bet stands, less than 6 and it doesn't. Simple.  

Which brings us to Mitch Marsh, in the form of his life with scores of 85 not out, 9, and 103 not out from his last three T20Is, and becoming increasingly accustomed to his role as an opener rather than at 3-5.  

Given the possibility of a reduction in overs where it's a 10-over-a-side game, and you can see the added importance of him being an opener, the loss of form of fellow opener Travis Head is also not a factor to be dismissed.  

Top India Bowler 

Assuming the rain does come, that's making things trickier for the spin bowlers, who struggle to grip the ball in slippery conditions and will find the ball doesn't turn off the pitch.  

It's not as simple as that, of course, but that's a good rule of thumb.   

So, we look at Jasprit Bumrah (5/2), Arshdeep Singh (11/4) and Harshit Rana (7/2), the fast bowlers.   

Preference goes to Rana because a) he has strong numbers at T20 domestic level, despite this being only his fifth T20I match, b) he bowled well in the recent ODI series in Australia with 2/59 and 4/39 in the second and third matches, and c) he's a bigger price. Not complicated in terms of rationale and price.  

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