Depleted Oz take on India, faced with injury woes again

A further depleted Australia will take on India in the fifth match of the seven match ODI series to be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here tomorrow.

With the series tied at 2-2, the fifth match at the Uppal stadium here is crucial for both the teams to force a lead.

However, Australias injury woes further continued with the loss of all-rounder Moises Henriques and Peter Siddle. Moises Henriques has hurt his right hamstring while fielding during the Mohali ODI and is likely to be ruled out of the remaining series. Fast bowler Peter Siddle had left for Australia with stiffness on his left side after the Mohali game. The visitors injury list already includes Brett Lee (elbow), James Hopes (hamstring) and Tim Paine (finger).

Australia may find it difficult to field the right combination for this humdinger of a contest. Henriques joined the squad mid-way as he was the replacement for injured Hopes. Thursdays game may provide an opportunity to one of the Victorian duo spinner Jon Holland or fast bowler Clint McKay to make their debut. It is likely that Ben Hilfenhaus may himself figure in the playing XI. Coach Tim Nielsen said, ''it is disturbing the teams balance as we are losing players from game to game. But we have been doing well.'' Pontings men did extremely well to bounce back in the series with a spirited performance while defending a modest score of 250 at Mohali. But the team is heavily dependent on skipper Ponting, Michael Hussey and Shane Watson. Cameron White came good with the bat at Mohali. Nielsen made special mention about Husseys good form. The form of Mitchell Johnson is causing concern for the world number one team. However, Nielsen brushed aside the observation and said, ''We are not over concerned about Johnsons form. He came back well after a couple of bad first spells. But when you are bowling to guys like Sehwag, there is very little scope for errors.'' While the loss of frontline bowlers has certainly impacted Australias preparations, Nielsen is trying to look at the positive side of it. ''It is providing an opportunity for the younger players. They have to adapt to different formats quickly. Doug Bollinger is bowling well and he is up to the contest'', he said.

Tim Nielsen observed that the wicket appeared to be good for batting. ''It looks good with a little bit of grass on it", he observed. "A score of 270 or 280 should be a good target to set,'' he opined.

-- (UNI) -- 04SPM4.xml

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