Australia have just beaten England 6-1, so their form is impressive. However, they have only just arrived in South Africa and without any warm-up matches they must resist the temptation to treat this game as a centre-wicket practice. A resounding win is required to give them momentum ahead of their matches against India and Pakistan – the teams are competing for two semi-finals spots. Weariness could be a factor and Ricky Ponting said this week the squad featured a lot of tired bodies after a four-month tour of England. Australia are also without their one-day specialist Nathan Bracken, although there is plenty of pace-bowling backup in the squad.

For this replacement West Indies side it’s business as usual – they enter the game as severe underdogs with no expectations on their shoulders. Gavin Tonge, who starred against Pakistan, forms part of a handy attack along with Darren Sammy and, if he plays, Kemar Roach. But the batting is fragile and West Indies’ best hope could be to bowl first and hope for early-morning swing and seam to upset Australia’s top order.

ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Australia vs West Indies (Australia vs West Indies) in ICC Champions Trophy is scheduled at Johannesburg from 14:30 local time (12:30 GMT). Watch free high quality online tv streaming on Live Cricket Match and Hasan Online Sports. Please allow 1/2 minutes to download the streaming and press Play to start the video. If the video is not playing, please refresh the page and start downloading the video again.

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Both teams have a 20% success rate in ODIs held in South Africa against the top eight teams; this tournament presents an opportunity to change that statistic. Pakistan will look to ease themselves into the tournament with what should be, in theory, an easy outing. Their captain Younis Khan, who won’t be featuring in tomorrow’s encounter, has already raised the stakes by announcing that he wants to win the tournament in honour of Bob Woolmer, their former coach who died during the 2007 World Cup.

It won’t be that easy, though. Pakistan haven’t had the best of the years in ODIs, losing eight of the 13 games played; their batting has floundered repeatedly and they have been bowled out for less than 175 five times. It’s a team in the rebuilding stage and instead of opting for an all-youth policy they have added a healthy bit of experience. They have been beefed up by the return of the ICL players in Mohammad Yousuf, Imran Nazir and the solid Naved-ul-Hasan.

If West Indies, derailed by controversy in the recent times, are desperately seeking some positive signs, they need only look at their history in this tournament. They have been runners-up twice and won it once so memorably in 2004. They lack even a single star but, freed of the weight of expectation, they can be a thorn in the flesh of the other fancied teams in their group.

2nd ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Pakistan vs West Indies (Pak vs WI) in ICC Champions Trophy is scheduled at Johannesburg from 14:30 local time (12:30 GMT). Watch free high quality online tv streaming on Live Cricket Match and Hasan Online Sports. Please allow 1/2 minutes to download the streaming and press Play to start the video. If the video is not playing, please refresh the page and start downloading the video again.

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The home team’s performance in the second ODI marked a major improvement, particularly in its bowling. West Indies found a gem in Ravi Rampaul, who swung the ball both ways, inducing the batsmen to make mistakes, while Jerome Taylor was the pick of the West Indies bowlers. He claimed the wickets of Dinesh Karthik, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, each of whom had a role to play in smashing 339 in the series opener. Though they didn’t have a big score to chase, the West Indies batsmen ensured their team outclassed India in every field, with Chris Gayle and Runako Morton deciding the game even before a wicket fell with a century opening stand.

India’s bowlers were indisciplined in the first game, bowling 19 wides and two front-foot no-balls, and the trait seemed to have rubbed off on their batsmen. Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj, each got out chasing wide deliveries, while the tail, with the exception of RP Singh, who added 101 with Dhoni to save India’s blushes, was hapless. Dhoni, at the end of the game, pointed out that over-reliance on Yuvraj, who has scores of 131 and 35 in the series, was not going to win India the series. And with an important game coming up, India’s top order will have to step up, with greater preparedness to counter the short ball.

Third One-Day International (ODI) Cricket match between India vs West Indies (Ind vs WI) is scheduled at St Lucia on 3rd July from 09:30 local time (14:30 GMT). Live Cricket Match and Hasan Online Sports will publish live links for watch free online tv streaming and embed multimedia player to stream the match live for free.

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The Indian top-order remained suspect against the short ball with Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma falling to miscued pulls. Even Yuvraj and Dinesh Karthik succeeded only after surviving nervous moments against the rising delivery. It was only after the ball grew older on a slow pitch, and Jerome Taylor gave way to less threatening bowlers, that India began to dominate. The Indian bowling was also far from satisfactory; the problems caused by the inability to contain the West Indian batsmen were compounded by an unacceptable number of extras. India’s bowlers conceded 19 of the 29 extras through wides and bowled two front-foot no-balls.

West Indies did well to get so close to a monstrous target but they could have done better and pulled off a stunning chase if one of their top-order batsmen played a long innings. Chris Gayle, Runako Morton, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul all made valuable contributions to keep West Indies in the game but got out just as they were beginning to dominate India. The pressure on the Indian bowlers, therefore, dissipated and left the lower-order batsmen with too much to do.

That West Indies were chasing a total of 340 was down to their bowlers indiscipline in line and length and their inability to fight back once the Indian batsmen raised the tempo. They will have to reduce the number of loose deliveries drastically to avoid another hiding on Sunday.

Second One-Day International (ODI) Cricket match between India vs West Indies (Ind vs WI) is scheduled at Kingston on 28th June from 09:30 local time (14:30 GMT). Live Cricket Match and Hasan Online Sports will publish live links for watch free online tv streaming and embed multimedia player to stream the match live for free.

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For India, a team shaken by defeat, injury and fatigue, this series is the last before a long break until the Champions Trophy in September. They will do well to focus on the task at hand, rather than think about the lengthy rest their tired bodies deserve. India are weakened for they are without Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina and Zaheer Khan, four key players either injured or resting because of their hectic schedule in recent months. Their unavailability, though, opens up rare opportunities for players on the fringes of the national squad such as Dinesh Karthik, S Badrinath and M Vijay because the Indian one-day side has been a settled unit for a while now. It also gives others, such as Ashish Nehra, a new lease of life for few would have expected him to return after four years on the sidelines.

First One-Day International (ODI) Cricket match between India vs West Indies (Ind vs WI) is scheduled at Kingston on 26th June from 09:30 local time (14:30 GMT). Live Cricket Match and Hasan Online Sports will publish live links for watch free online tv streaming and embed multimedia player to stream the match live for free.

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“We will play aggressive cricket, we will play to win as always, and we will aim for consistency of performance,” Dyson said. “There is a lot of cricket in any calendar year, but that’s what professional cricket’s about. They earn good money from playing cricket and it’s part of the job.”

West Indies have had a packed calendar so far in 2009. The tour of New Zealand ended in January after which they took on England at home from February through April. A few star players like captain Chris Gayle, Fidel Edwards and Dwayne Bravo then left for South Africa to represent their respective franchises in the IPL, held towards the end of April. They had to be back in England mid-way through the tournament for the return series in May, just ahead of the recently-concluded ICC World Twenty20.

Dyson, however, said he expected a total team effort from all his players. “The squad’s balanced fairly well,” he said. “If you look at the possible side that could walk on the field, we’ve got an extra batsman, we have an allrounder who is also a very good batsman, [we have] normal pace and reserve pace, which is good. Our spinner [Sulieman Benn], hopefully Chris [Gayle] will be providing back-up spin to him.”

When asked if West Indies would target specific Indian players, Dyson said, “We always look at the opposition and try and determine who their key players are, and think of ways to combat them. What we don’t know, of course, is the low-profile players, how they are going to perform and perform consistently throughout a series. So that’s something we have to monitor as the series progresses.”

Dyson said the pitches would also prove crucial in determining which way the series went. “It depends on the sort of wickets we’re playing on, on the conditions of the day, and the form our own players are in, and the opposition players are in.”

“Everyone realises that Fidel is the quickest,” Holding told Cricinfo. “He can intimidate and will be crucial to use bouncers as a strategy. Without him, though, it will be tough to bowl that kind of short-pitched intimidatory bowling. Jerome Taylor has not been all that fit in recent times. Since the first Test against England in Jamaica, he has not been 100%.”

India succeeded against the weaker attacks of Ireland and Bangladesh during the group stages of the tournament in England, but were startlingly inept against the volley of short balls bowled by the West Indies and England fast bowlers during the Super Eights matches at Lord’s. India’s susceptibility to the short delivery was no secret but it was the extent of their inability to counter that line of attack which was surprising. Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina, the two rising stars going by their performances in the subcontinent and in the IPL, struggled to play the rising ball. Gautam Gambhir, too, was cramped for room while Ravindra Jadeja simply looked out of his depth.

Holding also said he didn’t expect Lendl Simmons and Darren Sammy to be dropped for the first two matches against India. “There aren’t too many bowlers in the Caribbean to say that they should be in the team,” Holding said. “But I have been surprised by the exclusion of Lendl Simmons and Darren Sammy. They are two young promising cricketers who I thought could be given more opportunities.

Simmons hit a classy 77 off 50 balls against South Africa and a composed 44 against India while Sammy, drafted in for the injured Fidel Edwards, turned in economical spells in the two matches that he played. But both have been, surprisingly, dropped from the series against India.

“Lendl didn’t have a bad tour of England. He is a young cricketer and should be encouraged and nurtured. I can’t see any reason why he has been left out especially when I see there are players in the team who didn’t play a game in England and have been in the squad for quite some time. ODIs are not something you can predict easily. West Indies have been doing well in the shorter format and I hope they do well against India.”

The Indians have a poor recent record in the West Indies, including a 4-1 defeat in the bilateral series in 2006 and a forgettable performance in the World Cup the following year, which led to a first-round exit.

“Both teams are looking to win and they (Indians) are trying to prove something against us,” Gayle said. “At the same time we want to get more wins under our belt and continue our development. It’s going to be a tough series but we’re excited about it and have fun and play some good cricket all around.”

West Indies turned in a much-improved performance in the World Twenty20 after a lacklustre Test and ODI series against England. Gayle admitted that his team had an ordinary day in the semi-final clash against Sri Lanka where the top-order collapse contributed to a big loss.

“We were happy to be in the Twenty20 and happy to make the semi-finals but we’re disappointed in the way we lost the game,” Gayle said. “We’re now focused on rebounding by winning here against India.”

Gayle had earlier warned against complacency, given that the tourists are without star players like Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag. The coach John Dyson said an aggressive approach would work against India.

The series is part of a reciprocal arrangement between the two cricket boards. West Indies had toured India for four ODIs in 2007, just before the World Cup. The Indians have been on the road since the tour of New Zealand and their packed schedule has included the five-week IPL in South Africa and the World Twenty20. Fatigue was cited as one of the reasons for India’s poor performance in England but Gayle, nevertheless, expects a tough contest.

The Indian one-day side performed well in New Zealand, taking the series 3-1.

Sri Lanka squad
KC Sangakkara*, M Muralitharan, SI de Saram†, TM Dilshan, ST Jayasuriya, DPMD Jayawardene, KMDN Kulasekara, MF Maharoof, SL Malinga, AD Mathews, BAW Mendis, J Mubarak, LPC Silva, T Thushara, I Udana

West Indies squad
CH Gayle*, D Ramdin, LS Baker, SJ Benn, DE Bernard, DJ Bravo, S Chanderpaul, FH Edwards, ADS Fletcher, XM Marshall, KA Pollard, DJG Sammy, RR Sarwan, LMP Simmons, JE Taylor

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