ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, India vs Australia: Statistical preview of the semi-final

India will meet the hosts Australia the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 semi-final at Sydney. The winner would go on to meet New Zealand in the final at Melbourne on Sunday. Bharath Seervi presents a statistical preview of the second semi-final of ICC World Cup 2015.

Blurb:

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Of the top eight teams, India have the worst record against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground.

The top two ranked One-Day International (ODI) teams — Australia and India — will clash in the second semi-final at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Australia has never lost a World Cup semi-final; they have reached the semi-finals six times in the previous ten editions of World Cup cricket. India has played five World Cup Semi-finals — three in India and two overseas. Read: India vs Australia: The game that matters

India in World Cup semi-finals

India have won both their semi-finals outside India (in 1983 and 2003) but have lost two semi-finals at home (in 1987 and 1996).

In World Cup 1983, India had defeated the hosts England to enter the finals and win the World Cup. They are in similar situation in this World Cup. In World Cup 1996 semi-final at Eden Gardens against Sri Lanka, a section of the crowd threw water-bottles and fruits onto the field. The match was stopped for some time and when play resumed, the crowd again threw bottles at the fielders; Clive Lloyd, the match referee, handed the victory to Sri Lanka. India needed another 132 runs from 95 balls with two wickets in hand when the match was stopped. Thus, Sri Lanka won the match by default. Read: Will the real Ravindra Jadeja please stand up?

Australia in World Cup semi-finals

Australia got into the Semi-Finals in 1975, 1987, 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2007. They went on to win the World Cup four times and finished runner-up twice after moving into the finals every time they entered in the semi-finals. Read: Five reasons why Australia will beat India

In ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, they tied the semi-final with South Africa and moved into the final as they had finished at a position higher than South Africa in Super Sixes. Read: India vs Australia, Key Battles

India vs Australia — Head to Head

Australia has been the dominant side against all teams in ODIs, and it has not been an exception against India. They have a 7-3 record against India in World Cups as well.

India and Australia in ODIs since World Cup 2011

India has a slightly better win percentage than Australia in ODIs played after ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. In fact, these two teams have the highest win-loss ratio during this period and are the top two ranked ODI teams as well.

Visiting teams against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground in ODIs

Of the top eight teams, India have the worst record against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground. They have won just one match out of the 12 ODIs they played against Australia at the venue.

–          The only ODI India won against Australia at SCG was the first final of the Tri-Series of 2008-09.

Leaving aside the matches against Australia at this venue, India have won just four out of 17 matches here. This, again, is the lowest win percentage among the top-eight teams.

Records and Milestones to watch out for:

–          Mohammad Shami needs four more wickets to equal Zaheer Khan’s record of 21 wickets for India in a single edition of World Cup cricket.

–          Glenn Maxwell needs to hit five more sixes to equal Matthew Hayden’s record of 18 sixes for Australia in a single edition of World Cup cricket.

–          MS Dhoni needs another 58 runs to become the first Indian wicketkeeper to complete 500 runs in World Cup cricket.

MS Dhoni needs another 52 runs to overtake Kumar Sangakkara’s 465 runs as most runs by a wicketkeeper-captain in World Cup cricket. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage

(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)