Bangalore: The on going seven match ODI series between India and Australia is already seeing fire work from both the sides with targets going in axcess of 300 , the cricket fans will be hoping for some more fire work just a day before Diwali when India and Australia lock horns for the seventh and decider game here Saturday.
The series is evenly poised at 2-2 with two games at Ranchi and Cuttack washed out.
Now that new ODI rules in place and both the sides blaming them for high exceptionally high scoring games, the chances are the last match would be no different.
India would be going in to the last game as favourite because of home advantage and some brilliant batting performances.
So far most of the matches reflect the dominance of bat over ball with the bowlers, courtesy the new fielding restrictions and flat pitches, being taken to the cleaners. The batsmen of both teams have relished the helpful conditions and there is little reason to believe it would be anything different on the traditionally batsman-friendly pitch at the Mangalam Chinnaswamy Stadium here.
The fact that bowlers have taken only 52 wickets in nine completed innings shows the pasting they have received with a total of 2,889 runs being scored.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, despite the big series-levelling win at Nagpur a couple of days back, lamented the plight of the bowlers who have less cover in the deep due to the five-fielders-in-the-ring rule that came into effect this season.
So much so that among the biggest casualty among the bowlers has been Indian spearhead Ishant Sharma, dropped after the third game as by then he had conceded 189 runs in just 24 overs while picking up just two wickets.
In contrast, the other seamer Vinay Kumar who might get to play on his home turf here, has been the pick of the Indian bowlers with seven wickets, though he was omitted for the Nagpur outing as Dhoni opted for a third spinner in Amit Mishra.
Thus, while bowling has been a big chink in the Indian armour, so has been the middle-order where neither Suresh Raina nor Yuvraj Singh has fired, scoring just 72 and seven, respectively from five visits to the crease.
Their failures though have not drastically impacted India's batting with the top-order batsmen - Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli - in top form while Dhoni himself has marked his presence with a century.
Kohli, in particular, has been in sublime touch with scores of 61, 100 not out, 68 and 115 not out in his four outings while Dhawan and Sharma have virtually cemented their roles as openers.
The Aussie batting is not far behind with Dhoni's counterpart George Bailey whose roots can be traced to Sri Lanka, and in his debut series as the captain, enjoying a great series with knocks of 85, 92 not out, 43, 98 and 156 while the likes of openers Aaron Finch and Phil Hughes and all-rounder Shane Watson have chipped in at various times.
In the bowling department, the Aussies too have suffered as much, though Mitchell Johnson, with seven wickets in the bag, has always threatened with his pace in excess of 150kmph and bounce. But he won't be playing this game as he has left for Ashes.
It is to be expected that both teams would give the pitch a closer look than usual, for the bowling combination could well hold the key to the outcome.
