Commonwealth Bank Series First Final Preview

The most combustible summer of cricket we have seen in this country reaches its peak this weekend when Australia tangle with India in the first final at the SCG on Sunday.

These teams clearly detest each other and no-one will be surprised if the spite overflows on the pitch all over again.

If you take away all the side issues and look at formguide, it’s pretty easy to pick a winner and you can take the $1.43 on Australia all the way to the bank.

The Aussies have produced their two most compelling one-day wins of the summer at the SCG (smacking 317 against India and 253 against Sri Lanka) and they have fallen in love with the flat track.

There is no reason to think they won’t turn it on again – especially with batting bully

Matthew Hayden coming back into the side after being given a few days to clear his head after his “”obnoxious little weed’’ sledge at Harbhajan Singh.

You can forget about Friday’s dead rubber loss to Sri Lanka where the Aussies were going through the motions and were hardly playing for sheep stations.

If we have learnt one thing from watching the world champions over the last decade it is that the cream rises to the top when there are big games at stake.

Just look at their last three World Cup wins – the last two when the Aussies went into the tournament under serious pressure and with serious form issues.

We are declaring Ricky Ponting’s men as good things in Sydney – this is the sort of high-pressure finals game they simply lap up.

Selection . . .

DELHI dasher Gautam Gambhir came to Australia as a virtual unknown but he has been the glue that has held India’s wonky batting together this series.

He takes no prisoners with his flashing blade – but also knows when to hold them and when to fold them with his attacking flair – and has been the series top runscorer with 422 runs at 70.33.

We see no reason to look away from the Gambhir, the form No.3, in the high-run market for India, especially as he is one of the few Indians that has looked comfortable against Brett Lee’s fast bowling onslaught.

All roads lead to Gambhir in the high-bat market as his recent form at the SCG is irresistible, belting 113 against the Aussies in Sydney just last weekend.

1/2 point at 5.0 Sportsbet, Sports Acumen, Centrebet, Lasseters