Favourites India 'A' take on Aussies in tri-series final tomorrow

Chennai, Sep 25 (UNI) India 'A' will have an upperhand when they take on Australia 'A' in the final of the ODI tri-nation tournament at the M A Chidambaram stadium here tomorrow.

India 'A' qualified for the final garnering 13 points topping the points tally in the League phase of the tournament in which New Zealand 'A' were the third team. The Aussies gained nine points and New Zealand with just two points failed to qualify for the final.

Each team had played four matches each.

India 'A's psychological advantage stems from their commanding win against the Aussies in the last match of the league phase yesterday.

After a rest day today, the teams would be contesting the final tomorrow.

India 'A' have been dominating the series with better bowling strength compared to the Aussies. This has been making up for the inconsistent top order batting.

The Indian team would be sorely missing their regular captain S Badrinath who had to leave the team having been picked for the Irani Trophy competition in the Rest of India side.

The onus would be on stand-in captain Suresh Raina to come good with the bat and with his leadership as well. India would also benefit from the slow nature of the wicket at the Chepauk as it has better spinners vis a vis the Aussie left armer Xavier Doherty who has not been impressive in the series so far.

After the final, while the Aussies would leave, New Zealand and India 'A' will play two four-day matches against each other from September 28 to October 1 and October 3 to 6.

UNI VV ADM RAR AS1638