Bangalore: India will yet again rely on their batting firepower as they seek to clinch the one-day series against an equally-determined Australia when the two teams clash in the seventh and final match on Saturday in what promises to be another high-scoring thriller. After two successive washouts in Ranchi and Cuttak, India rebounded to level the series 2-2 in Nagpur with yet another superlative show by their batsmen, who chased down a mammoth 351-run target. The incredible run chase brought back memories of India's magnificent victory in Jaipur when they chased a stiff target of 360, achieving the second highest successful run chase ever in ODI history.
The bowlers of both the sides are under tremendous pressure on flat batting tracks as despite the two washouts, more than 2500 runs have been scored so far. Even the score of 350 cannot be considered a cushion and Saturday's match is also likely to be another high-scoring tussle with the wicket at M Chinnaswamy stadium traditionally being a batting-friendly wicket. The Indians, however, will find the going a little easier on the morrow as Australia's pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson will sit out of the match as he is returning home to prepare for the Ashes.
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be hoping that his young teammates can maintain the tempo to turn the tables on the Australians who have won two seven-game series in the past against the hosts. Among the batsmen, Virat Kohli and opener Shikhar Dhawan are the top-scorers for the hosts as they have batted brilliantly. Dhoni himself has been a solid batsman in the middle-order. Opener Rohit Sharma has also been instrumental in India's good fight with his partnerships with Dhawan and the hosts would look forward to the openers to provide yet again a solid start.
Dhoni himself will be looking to repeat the Mohali performance where he scored a brilliantcentury to help India recover and post a challenging 300-plus total even as that was chased successfully by the visitors. The worry for India is the middle-order where Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh are yet to come up with an innings of substance in this series and on Saturday is time for the two to make up for the earlier failures.
